Message in the Bottle is a documentary-experimental video about the personal and collective connection to Ukraine’s lost waters: the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov, and the Kakhovka Reservoir.
Since 2014, Ukraine has been going through a gradual process of being cut off from these waters, which have shaped its landscape, memory, and identity. Here, water is not only geography, but also a source of life, renewal, and protection. Its loss represents not only an environmental trauma, but also a cultural and existential one.
The film works with collective memory through oral histories, archives, and personal recollections. Its protagonists reconstruct intimate images of disappearing places, presenting memory as a process of rethinking and reclaiming the past.
CREW:
Director: Kateryna Ruzhyna
Cinematographer: Darja Lukjanenko, Polina Olkhovnikova, Kateryna Ruzhyna
Director
Kateryna Ruzhyna
Kateryna Ruzhyna is a Ukrainian filmmaker based in Prague. She earned a degree in Art History from Charles University and studied Art Theory at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. During her studies, she focused on topics such as the perception of documentary media and self-presentation in virtual spaces.
She is currently pursuing a Master’s in Documentary Directing at FAMU. Since 2020, Kateryna has been active in film as an art director. Her debut short documentary, Avitaminosis (2023), premiered at major festivals including the Sarajevo Film Festival, DocLisboa, and Kino Pavasaris, winning the top prize at the Marienbad FF, 7éme Lune, Working Title FF, the Silver Eye Award at the Jihlava IDFF, as well as range of special mentions. Her second short film, 59th second, is currently on the festival circuit.
Selected Filmography
Message in the Bottle (2025)
