New Ukrainian Cinema. What State Is It In?

With international recognition, Zelensky, and not without state support.

If in 2011 one domestic film was shown in cinemas over the year, now their number exceeds three dozen. Some of them are so successful that they are noted at prestigious festivals. State support for cinema is growing, and this growth, if one believes the country's president, who until recently worked as an actor, will continue.

“I dream of and will do everything to make Ukraine a powerful cinematic power, — Vladimir Zelensky said in his congratulations on Ukrainian Cinema Day on September 14. — We must set up the entire film process — from shooting to distribution, the development of cinemas, so that Ukrainian filmmakers can present their distinctive and modern creative style at home and on international screens”. 

We explain how this style manifests itself and how the film industry in Ukraine is developing overall.

How Ukrainian cinema is supported 

State support for cinema is one of the major reasons for the industry's leap in development. Funding from the State Film Agency under the budget program “State Support of Cinematography” for 2019 amounts to UAH 505 million (UAH 505.7 million a year earlier): of this, UAH 479.9 million went to film production, and another UAH 20 million to promoting Ukrainian cinema.

For comparison: in 2012 the State Film Agency's budget was UAH 178 million, and a year later it was even less — UAH 157 million  UAH. 

How Ukrainian cinema makes money

“Ten years ago, the very fact that Ukrainian films reached the big screen was seen as a victory, — says director Nariman Aliyev on the eve of the wide release of the film “Dodomu”. — Today it no longer is. There is certain progress: we want to know what quality this film has, what its budget is, what its box office is”.

The most successful Ukrainian film is “Me, You, He, She” starring Volodymyr Zelensky in the lead role. It was made by the Kvartal 95 studio with support from the State Film Agency (support of UAH 17.6 million). At the box office the film collected more than UAH 70 million, which is twice its budget. 

Another successful comedy is “Skazhene Vesillya”. Its starting budget was UAH 10.8 million, and at the box office it collected five times more — UAH 54.9 million. State Film Agency support was also present — in the form of 10% of the total budget. 

If we recall recent examples, the film “Zakhar Berkut” can also be considered a success. It has not paid back yet, but shows decent figures. Notably, the American studio Cinema Day, which attracted a number of Hollywood actors, took part in its creation. The film opened with UAH 9.643 million ($389 thousand), which is the best opening result among Ukrainian projects in 2019. In second place on this measure were “Swingers 2”, which collected UAH 6.065 million.

As for total box office, the adaptation of Ivan Franko's novella came fourth in the history of Ukrainian cinema. In total, in its first month in release “Zakhar Berkut” collected more than UAH 35 million. At the same time, “Skazhene Vesillya 2”, whose premiere is set for December 25, is expected to overtake it at the end of winter (the ideal time for a release).

Of course, sometimes success is considered when a film covers its costs. This happened with the cartoon “The Stolen Princess”. It had an international release, and leading pop stars — Nadia Dorofeeva and Pozitiv from the group “Vremya i Steklo”, as well as TV presenter Serhiy Prytula — took part in the voice cast. But “Storozhova Zastava”, despite a massive advertising campaign last year, managed to collect only half of its own budget.  

There is also a category of films that are so unsuccessful that their results are not reported publicly. For example, the film “Kazka pro Hroshi”. It was shot entirely at the Dovzhenko Film Studio at state expense. However, in the end no one reported the film's box office takings. 

Overall, in 2018 Ukrainian films earned UAH 198.9 million, and their box office takings accounted for 8.6% of total box office. In all, 35 Ukrainian films were released — and 22 of them were supported by the State Film Agency.

Festival cinema 

Besides films for a wide audience, Ukraine also makes films for festivals. Here, of course, the main thing to talk about is not earnings, but the prestige and recognition that Ukrainian directors regularly receive.

Thus, in 2018 two Ukrainian films, partly shot with state money, made it into the competition programs at Cannes. Moreover, they won three awards there. These are the films by director Sergei Loznitsa, “Donbass”. It won the prize for best director in the “Un Certain Regard” program. The international press dubbed the film “an Orwellian dystopia” and “a cry from the heart.” 

The second film is “Woman at War”, which tells the story of a woman who adopts a child from Ukraine. It features Ukrainian folk songs, whose lyrics were adapted at the National Music Academy. It was precisely at Cannes that the film won the award for best music, along with the state prize of the Cannes Film Festival, the “Golden Railway”.

Over 2014–2017, 13 Ukrainian films received awards and were nominated at international film festivals. The best known of them, “The Tribe”, won the Grand Prix of the Critics' Week at Cannes. 

Today, the film “Dodomu” is actively discussed on social media. Its world premiere took place at the 72nd Cannes International Film Festival, and during its Ukrainian premiere at the 10th Odesa International Film Festival it received the Grand Prix — the Golden Duke. 

This is Nariman Aliyev's feature-length debut. The film tells the story of Mustafa, a Crimean Tatar, who wants to take his deceased eldest son Nazim from Kyiv to bury him in Crimea and bring the younger Alim home. The film was also Ukraine's candidate for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. 

Oleksiy Symonchuk