The depiction of the Russo-Ukrainian War in cinema has become an important phenomenon of modern Ukrainian cinema. It has been described by film journalists and Ukrainians as not only a form of artistic expression, but also a means of understanding events, maintaining public spirit and morale, coping with trauma, and a tool for informing the world about the tragedies, heroism, and struggle of the Ukrainian people as a result of the Russian invasion of the territory of Ukraine since the Spring of 2014.[1] [2] [3]
| 2014 | Ukrainian | Україна: вижити у вогні / Ukraine: Surviving the Fire[4] | Documentary | Khrystyna Bondarenko | |||
| 2014 | Ukrainian | На лінії вогню / In the Line of Fire[5] | Documentary | Serhii Yakymenko | |||
| 2014 | Russian | Варя / Boiling | Documentary | Alyona Polunina | Film documenting the trip of Russian volunteer Varvara Darevska, who assisted the Armed Forces of Ukraine, to Ukraine.[6] | ||
| 2014 | Russian | ДНР, або Химерна історія країни-саморобки / DPR, or the Quirky History of a Self-Made Country | Documentary | Anthony Batts | Film documenting the first weeks (April–May 2014) of the Donetsk People's Republic breakaway state and its supporters.[7] | ||
| 2014 | Ukrainian, Russian | / Our Hope | Documentary | Volodymyr Tykhyi, Yulia Shashkova | Ukrainian film documenting the life story of Ukrainian pilot and politician Nadiya Savchenko. including her detention and trial.[8] [9] | ||
| 2014 | Ukrainian, Russian, Surzhik | / On the Front Line | Documentary | Film documenting military events in Eastern Ukraine[10] | |||
| 2014 | Ukrainian, Surzhik | Лист бійців АТО Путіну / A Letter from ATO Fighters to Putin[11] | Documentary | Volodymyr Tykhyi | |||
| 2014 | Ukrainian | / War at your Own Expense | Short Documentary | Leonid Kanter, Ivan Yasnii | Film about the National Guard of Ukraine and the training of new troops.[12] | ||
| 2014 | Ukrainian | Контакт / Contact[13] | Documentary | Mustafa Nayyem, Bohdan Kutiepov | |||
| 2014 | Ukrainian | (Не)прихована війна / (Un)hidden war[14] | Documentary | ||||
| 2014 | Ukrainian, Russian | / Battle for the Dnipro | Documentary | Andriy Nesterenko | Film documenting reforms that took place in Dnipropetrovsk.[15] | ||
| 2015 | Ukrainian | Капелани / Chaplains | Documentary | Valentin Degtyarenko | Film documenting the Russo-Ukrainian war from the perspective of Ukrainian priests.[16] [17] | ||
| 2015 | Russian | Шов: Психолог на войне / Shov: Psychologist for War[18] | Documentary | Lidia Starodubtseva | |||
| 2015 | Russian | / Dill of Donbass | Documentary | Ruslan Horovyi | Film documenting life in Eastern Ukraine during combat and Russian occupation.[19] | ||
| 2015 | Ukrainian | / Prisoner[20] | Drama | Anatoly Mateshko | |||
| 2015 | Ukrainian, Russian, English | Міна / Mine[21] | Short documentary | Вовка Соловей | |||
| 2015 | Ukrainian | / Volunteers of God's Choir | Documentary | Leonid Kanter, Ivan Yasnii | Full-length documentary about Ukrainian defenders at the Donetsk airport.[22] | ||
| 2015 | Russian | Хто нас розвів? / Who Led Us Away?[23] | Documentary | Yevhenii Lesnoi | |||
| 2015 | Russian | Ті, що пережили пекло / Those Who Survived Hell[24] [25] | Short Documentary | Oleksiy Bida, Anna Perepelitsa | Film documenting the testimony of people who survived Pro-Russian separatist captivity and torture. | ||
| 2015 | Russian | Близький далекий схід / Middle Far East[26] [27] | Documentary | Philip Remunda | |||
| 2015 | Ukrainian, Russian | Аліса у Країні війни / Alice in the Land of War[28] [29] | Documentary | Alisa Kovalenko, Lyubov Durakova | |||
| 2016 | Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian | / Mariupolis[30] [31] [32] [33] | Documentary | Mantas Kvedaravičius | Film documenting the everyday life of ordinary residents of Mariupol, Shirokyny, and Sartana during the war, amid extreme conditions of shelling and destruction. The film's premiere took place at the 66th Berlin Film Festival. | ||
| 2016 | Russian | / Oleg's Choice[34] [35] | Documentary | Olena Voloshyn, James Keough | Film about the personal motives for the participation and demoralization of Russian volunteers in the war, as well as their. It was presented at the FIPA and "One World" film festivals. | ||
| 2016 | Ukrainian | Поверни мені ім'я / Give Me Back my Name[36] [37] | Documentary | Snizhana Potapchuk | Film about the search for the bodies of dead Ukrainian servicemen. | ||
| 2016 | Russian | / Relatives | Documentary | Vitaly Manskyi | Film about how relatives living in Lviv, in the territory controlled by DPR militants, and in Sevastopol, annexed by Russia, react to the events of the Russo-Ukrainian war.[38] | ||
| 2016 | Ukrainian, Russian | Десять секунд / Ten Seconds[39] [40] | Documentary | Julia Hontaruk | Film based on the events following the shelling of the "East" residential quarter of the city of Mariupol by pro-Russian militants on January 24, 2015. | ||
| 2017 | Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Russian, French | Іній / Frost[41] [42] | War film, drama | Sharunas Bartas | A young Lithuanian, Rokas, drives a humanitarian aid truck with his girlfriend Inga to the Donbas region of Ukraine where, amid the violence and death of the war in Donbas, they meet different war reporters. | ||
| 2017 | Ukrainian, Russian | Кіборги / Cyborgs[43] [44] | Action, War film, Drama | Akhtem Seitablayev | Ukrainian war drama film about theCyborgs, the Ukrainian defenders in the Second Battle of Donetsk Airport during the war in Donbas. | ||
| 2018 | Ukrainian, Russian | / Call Sign "Banderas" | War film, Drama, Detective | Zaza Buadze | War drama film based on the diaries of the national guard Serhiy Bashkov with the call sign "Banderas", and the stories of ATO soldiers.[45] | ||
| 2018 | Ukrainian, Russian | / Myth | Documentary | Leonid Kanter, Ivan Yasnii | Film documenting the life and death of opera singer Vasyl Slipak and his joining of the Ukrainian volunteer movement before being killed by a sniper's bullet.[46] | ||
| 2018 | Russian, Ukrainian | Донбас / Donbass | Drama | Sergey Loznytsia | Drama film containing thirteen short stories about life in Russia-occupied territories, each representing reconstructions of real events recorded in professional reports, amateur videos on YouTube, and memories of local residents.[47] | ||
| 2019 | Ukrainian | Атлантида /Atlantis[48] | Drama | Valentin Vasyanovych | Drama film taking place in 2025, following the victory of Ukraine against Russia and the return to now-inhabitable territories devastated by war and occupation. | ||
| 2019 | Ukrainian, Russian, English | / Ilovaisk 2014. Battalion "Donbas" | Action, War drama | Ivan Tymchenko | Ukrainian feature film directed about the battles for Ilovaisk during the War in Donbas.[49] | ||
| 2019 | Ukrainian | Мати Апостолів / Mother of the Apostles[50] | War drama | Zaza Buadze | Film based on real events that took place in the East of Ukraine in 2014 about a mother's search for her son following news of his plane being shot down.[51] | ||
| 2019 | Ukrainian, Russian | Черкаси / Cherkasy[52] | War drama | Timur Yashchenko | Ukrainian feature film directed by Tymur Yashchenko about the defense of the eponymous naval, blocked by Russian troops in Donuzlav Bay, Crimea during the 2014 capture of Southern Naval Base. The film was created with the support of the State Cinema of Ukraine. | ||
| 2019 | Ukrainian, Russian | / Skhidnyak | Comedy, Road movie | Andy Yves (Andriy Ivanyuk) | Comedy film based on real events during the Russian-Ukrainian war involving two soldiers traveling through various front line villages.[53] | ||
| 2021 | Ukrainian | Шлях поколінь / The Path of Generations[54] | Documentary | Mykhailo Uhman | Film documenting events that took place during the existence of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.[55] | ||
| 2022 | Ukrainian | / Vision of a Butterfly[56] | Military drama | Maksym Nakonechnyi | Military drama about an aerial scout with the call sign "Butterfly", who returns from captivity.[57] | ||
| 2022 | Moldavian | The Road to War: Irpin[58] | Documentary | Viorika Tataru, Andriy Kaptarenko | |||
| 2023 | English | Superpower | Documentary | Sean Penn, Aaron Kaufman | A 2023 documentary about Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The film profiles Volodymyr Zelenskyy's atypical career path through the eyes of Sean Penn as he seeks to understand Ukraine's recent history.[59] [60] | ||
| 2023 | Ukrainian | Евакуація / Evacuation[61] | Documentary | Rostislav Gerashchenko | Film documenting the IBC, one of the most organized volunteer centers in the Irpin region during the Russo-Ukrainian war, and the evacuation of Irpin residents of the Buchan district. | ||
| 2023 | Ukrainian | 20 днів у Маріуполі / 20 Days in Mariupol | Documentary | Mstislav Chernov | The film tells the story of the twenty days Chernov spent with his colleagues in the besieged city of Mariupol in February–March 2022 in the first weeks of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Chernov compiled footage that he collected in Mariupol together with the team from PBS's Frontline and the Associated Press (AP).[62] [63] [64] | ||
| 2023 | French | / Ukraine, in the Traces of Executioners | Documentary | Manon Loiseau, Ksenia Bolchakova | The film deliberates war crimes during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the north of the Kyiv region during the occupation in 2022, including murders, torture, rape, and the deportation of children and adults. This investigation examines the war crimes committed and planned by Vladimir Putin and his regime step by step, based on witness statements and written evidence.[65] [66] | ||
| 2024 | Ukrainian, Russian | The Hardest Hour / Dovha Doba | Documentary | Alan Badoev | Documentary film created from 200 hours of amateur film shot by Ukrainians on their mobile phones.[67] | ||
| 2024 | Ukrainian | Війна за море: від Дніпра до Криму / War for the Sea: from the Dnieper to the Crimea | Documentary | GUR | The film reveals the details of the combat missions of the special units of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and other components of the Security and Defense Forces, carried out in 2022-2023 on the Dnieper, Kakhovka Reservoir, and in the Black Sea. It covers landings in Enerhodar; the landing and creation of a bridgehead on the left bank of the Kherson region; the return of control over oil and gas production platforms in the Black Sea; sea raids to Crimea; and the destruction of Russian ships by Magura V5 boat drones.[68] | ||
| 2024 | Ukrainian,English | Знищити повністю або частково / Destroy Completely or Partially | Documentary | Danylo Mokryk | In the film, journalist Danylo Mokryk communicates with scientists and Ukrainian victims of war crimes in order to investigate allegations of genocide of the Ukrainian people.[69] [70] | ||
| 2024 | Ukrainian | / The Witch of Konotop | Horror | Andriy Kolesnyko | Horror film involving an ancient witch from Konotop taking revenge on Russian invaders after they reach her city and kill her boyfriend.[71] [72] | ||
| 2024 | English | The Zelensky Story | Documentary series | Michael Waldman | Three-episode series following Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy's journey from a young actor and entertainer to one of the most recognizable leaders on the planet, leading a country at war with Vladimir Putin's Russia, including access to interviews with President Zelenskyy and First Lady Olena Zelenska.[73] [74] |
| Year | Language | Name | Genre | Director | Country | Synopsis | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Ukrainian | / The Guard[75] | Television show | Oleksiy Shaparev | |||
| 2015 | Russian, Ukrainian | Не зарікайся / Don't Swear[76] | Melodrama television show | Dmytro Goldman | |||
| 2015—2016 | Ukrainian, Russian | Місто героїв / The City of the Heroes | Documentary series | Ivan Synepalov | The documentary series covers various aspects of life in front-line Mariupol in 2014-2016. | ||
| 2022 | Ukrainian, Russian | Mariupol Chronicles of Hell[77] | Documentary series | Elizaveta Tatarinova | The film is created from documentary footage, contains monologues of the city and conversations with those who escaped from the blockaded Mariupol. Filming took place in Odesa, Kropyvnytskyi, Dnipro, Chornomorsk, and Zaporizhzhia — in those places where Mariupol residents had escaped to. | ||
| 2021 | Ukrainian, Russian | / Mother[78] | War drama, Miniseries | Taras Tkachenko, Serhiy Masloboyshchikov | The story of a woman from Zhytomyr who came to Donetsk in search of her son, a soldier of the Armed Forces, who was captured. | ||
| 2023 | Ukrainian | / Yurik[79] | Two-part TV movie,War drama | Oleksandr Tymenko | Ukraine | The story of an 11-year-old boy who, escaping from war-torn Mariupol, reaches the border of Ukraine within 15 days. | |
| 2024 | Ukrainian | / In Her Car[80] [81] | Drama | Evgeny Tunik, Arkady Nepytalyuk | The series covers the first days and weeks of Ukrainians during the Russian war in Ukraine. The main character is a therapist Lydia, who uses her car to transport civilians from hot spots to safer places. Each episode features a different passenger with a personal story. |
According to the State Film Agency of Ukraine, the first Ukrainian national documentary film festival Cinema for Victory was held in Kyiv from February 23–25, 2024, where films shot during the Russian-Ukrainian war were presented.[82] [83]