Retention

Set by a beautiful river canyon in Western Ukraine, a pacifist community with unique religious beliefs, sees their peaceful way of life gradually distressed by regular floods and eventually an unexpected war.

When reformed ex-smuggler Pamfir returns home to his village on the Ukrainian border after working abroad for several years, he’s determined to earn an honest living and set a good example for his beloved teenage son Nazar. But in a town where corruption runs deep and crime and religion are inextricably linked, his plan is quickly thwarted when Nazar sets fire to the local church in a misguided effort to keep him at home. To pay for the damage, Pamfir must take on one last job for a crime syndicate operating a risky smuggling venture in a place where all the rules have changed.

Krasna Malanka is a story about people from Romanian village Krasna on the territory of Ukraine, which are getting prepared for the Malanka holiday. This holiday is a landmark event for everybody in Krasna, especially for young men, for them it's the main initiation in life. Malanka is a carnival, a queer pagan show where everyone has his own part.

Reality in Ukraine was divided into two periods - before the war and after. Every citizen tries to be useful in this national resistance. Ukrainians change their professions and adapt to the needs of wartime. In art workshops, sculptors make anti-tank obstacles. Silent figures of Ukrainian figures, angels, Cossacks and multiple copies of Jesus Christ, like a terracotta army, froze in anticipation of new creations. Masters weld metal defenses for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

At the intersection of a provincial track and an international road a Gypsy community of a small Romanian town begin and end their day. It is the point of the geographical crossing that divides them from the rest of the world and keeps them within the traditional lifestyle, where in generations survive families, elderly, men and women, children and teenagers.

Professional weightlifter Petro is preparing for an important competition. But before the competition, he receives tragic news that forces him to make a difficult decision. Petro's inner conflict makes him into more than just a mechanical bundle of muscles.

A short story about a grandfather and grandson.

This is an impressionistic film-portrait about an eccentric coach of track-and-field athletics. His strong nature was formed long time ago during his service at the navy.

Ukraine, goodbye! - Ukrainian film Almanac — a collection of short films about the acute social problem of Ukraine-emigration abroad. The collection includes 25 short films in Ukrainian or Russian.

Vasyl lives in a remote Carpathian village, where he bears responsibility for the household and helps his mother with traditional coverlets fulling. One evening, his younger brother Ivan arrives unexpectedly at the family home. Ivan is a gay soldier who, before being deployed to a front-line position, wishes to discuss his last will. In the event of his death, he asks to be cremated by his partner in Kyiv, rather than laid to rest in the village soil where he was never truly accepted. This request stands in direct opposition to local traditions. Vasyl finds himself torn between honoring his brother’s final wish and conforming to what is considered morally and culturally right.

The old man’s daughter married the foreigner and moved abroad. Only his neighbor Gienyk remembers his name. Others call him “Beard”. “Beard” feeds hens, smokes cheap cigarettes, goes fishing as an ordinary villager. But nobody, even Gienyk knows what’s on his mind. His daughter visits him while passing by. He’s not at home at that moment. When he comes back, he founds his daughter on the threshold, ready to leave. The old man sees off his daughter with sadness. And then takes the gun. Everything’s going to change in a moment… The Beard will disappear.

While Tamara, the 40-year-old woman artist, who is going through an existential crisis, tries to discover whether she has got rabies from a dog, that bit her on the street, the other woman comes to her house - the young mistress of her husband. Insult and frustration throw Tamara to fight her inner demons and her own artistic rabies while her husband is lost between the two worlds of powerful women.

After the liberation of his home village, a Ukrainian soldier with the call sign “Kid” together with his comrade visits the uncle who raised him. Seven years prior “Kid” left home in pursuit of his dreams, but the desire to visit his family brings him back. The uncle, however, has a secret to hide.

At dawn, the mother blesses her son bidding him farewell. He is accompanied by his father. Together they go to the station. There, his girlfriend is waiting for him. She does not only see him off, but is going to leave with him. The father does not let her go. They stay, and the boy goes to where a new life awaits him, without the father’s watchful eye, mother’s care and girlfriend’s tears. According to the director, here the main character had difficult relationships, and there begins a new stage, his life will change, but we will not see it.

Sanko returns to his grandfather's house, where he spent his childhood.

Captured during the events of Euromaidan revolution in Kyiv, Ukraine, an expressive argument looks like something out of the movie by Sergio Leone. Short documentary sketch by Babylon 13. As per Babylon'13 tradition, no filmmakers were initially credited for the short piece, although following festival screenings and awards identified Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk as the filmmaker behind it.