Anatolii Khymych

A documentary assembled from footage shot in the weeks following the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, documenting the immediate response, evacuation efforts, and the work of firefighters, doctors, and workers involved in containing the damaged reactor.

The film is about the director’s mother, the movie actress Nina Antonova. Now she is 80. She has had hundreds of roles – big and small. It is a personal story about an honest and sad life, about self-sacrifice and freedom. Real fame as an actress came to her only once in her life. It was the leading role in the first Soviet colour TV series Varka’s Land. That was 45 years ago…

The film is about the service of border guards at one of the outposts of the Western Border District: soldiers on guard duty, during their leisure time, see off demobilized soldiers.

The film is in the first person, from a girl. Ordinary people on a train are shown, each talking about their painful experiences... some crying, some singing, some reciting poetry. And everyone has their own story, their own pain, their own burden. The film is about an ordinary Ukrainian, and there are many of them, and everyone wants to be heard...

Irina seems to be a happy woman: she has a loving husband, two children, and a good job. But one day, Irina falls head over heels in love with Anatoly. The feeling is so strong that Irina decides to leave her family. She has no idea what consequences this will have... Her husband dies of a heart attack. Her children reject her, and she goes to a convent in a state of confusion. Meanwhile, her lover takes on the responsibility of raising her children...

The residents of a remote village decided to stage a play based on Kotlyarevsky's "Aeneid" on their own. The initiator of this unusual undertaking was Kolot, an energetic and creative young man from the village. He had previously been dismissed from the police force, but now he had plenty of free time. Having gathered a group of like-minded friends and colorful villagers, he saw the project through to completion, and on the eve of the premiere, he decided to show the play to his former colleagues in the police force. Who could have imagined the strange events that would follow!

About love and loyalty, which helps to withstand the trials of fate in the most difficult times. The film features Svitlana Knyazeva and Leonid Osyka, Kateryna and Boryslav Brondukov', Kostyantyn Stepankov and Ada Rogovtseva.

Shot at a children’s cemetery seven years after Chornobyl. The author is delicately showing human grief from the point of view of not an outside observer trying to shoot reportage but a parent like his heroes. The death of an adult is a tragedy, while child’s death is a catastrophe. As long as such cemeteries exist, this pain will exist, too.