You're reading: These are 4 most anticipated Ukrainian movies of 2020

The year 2020 has already seen five Ukrainian movies released in less than a month. Two of them are exceptional for Ukrainian cinema: the thoughtful comedy-drama “My Thoughts Are Silent” and “Devoted,” an anesthetic historical drama with a flair of magic.

But there are more to come. While there were about 20 Ukrainian-produced feature films to hit the box office in 2019, twice as many are expected to be released in 2020. The gradual increase of production over the years is due to the systematic funding of film projects by the State Film Agency.

The Kyiv Post has put together the list of the four most anticipated Ukrainian films to be released in 2020. These are a patriotic war drama and a comedy, a historical action film and an art-house festival favorite about the end of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

The list does not include movies that will premiere at film festivals this year but don’t have a wide release date yet. Such films as Oleg Sentsov’s “Numbers,” Natalya Vorozhbit’s “Bad Roads” and Roman Balayan’s film with the working title “Error in Diagnosis” will be covered in a separate story at the start of the film festivals season in the summer.

‘Lethal Kittens’ — Jan. 30

Coming to cinemas next week is “Lethal Kittens” (“Nashi Kotyky”), the first Ukrainian attempt to reflect on Russia’s war against Ukraine with humor. Described by the authors as a “non-politically-correct patriotic comedy,” the film aims to help Ukrainians, war veterans especially, overcome the traumas of war.

Set in 2014, the first year of the conflict, the film tells the story of a motley crew of military volunteers: an engineer, actor, a soccer coach and a florist. Having no combat experience and knowledge of the terrain, they manage to disrupt Russia’s large-scale operation along the front line.

The film is based on real stories of Ukrainian military volunteers, fondly called “kotyky,” or “kittens,” by activists supporting the Ukrainian army. The writer and director is Volodymyr Tykhyi, best known for co-founding the Babylon 13 documentary film community, which covered the war and the EuroMaidan Revolution that ended Viktor Yanukovych’s presidency in 2014.

The film was co-produced by at least two prominent members of the Ukrainian diaspora. One is Stepan Bandera, the grandson of the Ukrainian nationalist leader. The other is Ulana Suprun, who, as the former health minister of Ukraine, recommends the film for its therapeutic value.

“We were always joking at the front line,” says a war veteran and one of the actors Dmytro Tuboltsev, cited by Suprun in her op-ed about the film for Novoye Vremya magazine. “Because humor is the best cure against the horror and misery that war brings.”

‘Atlantis’ — Feb. 19

The highest-prized Ukrainian film of 2019, “Atlantis” imagines life in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas in 2025, a year after Ukrainians have defeated the Russia-led militants there. Despite the victory, the war has taken its toll: Donbas in the film is economically, ecologically and morally devastated.

“Atlantis” won the Best Film award at Horizons, the Venice Film Festival’s second most important section, dedicated to new “expressive languages” in cinema. The auteur film was written, directed, filmed and edited by Valentyn Vasyanovych, best known for producing the sensational “The Tribe.”

The film follows Serhiy, a former Ukrainian soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, who struggles to adjust to a new life in his ruined hometown. The smelter he works at shuts down, but Serhiy gets a chance to leave for a job in Europe. Instead, he joins a volunteer mission to exhume war corpses, where he meets Katya, his hope for a better future.

Vasyanovych cast many of the actors for their real-life experiences in the ongoing war. Andriy Rymaruk, who plays Serhiy, is a former reconnaissance officer, and Liudmyla Bileka, who plays Katya, volunteered as a paramedic at the front line.

“This is a strong piece of poetically pure art-house cinema that finally offers a ray of hope for humanity’s future — not just Ukraine’s, as this largely depoliticized statement is one of universal relevance,” film critic Dennis Harvey writes about “Atlantis” in the Variety magazine.

‘Cherkasy’ — Feb. 27

Probably the first Ukrainian patriotic film about the military that feels true and perceptive is “Cherkasy.” The war drama tells the true story of the eponymous Ukrainian Navy minesweeper ship that was the only one to resist during Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March 2014.

The film follows the crew of the Cherkasy ship as it returns from training to its base in the Donuzlav Bay. The port is already lost to the Russian army, and several Ukrainian ships surrender after being blocked. Only Cherkasy resists, fighting the armed Russian special forces for 19 days with nothing but deck hoses.

“Cherkasy” is a full-feature debut for Tymur Yashchenko, a 35-year-old Ukrainian director from the city of Cherkasy. The captain of the original ship consulted the movie, and the Ukrainian Navy provided ships and personnel to film in natural sea conditions.

The film got a standing ovation at the Odesa Film Festival premiere. It received favorable reviews, with many critics praising the truthful depiction of harsh military life in Ukraine, the film’s believable characters and their true-to-life language.

“The director makes you want to associate yourself with these characters, identify with them. Through camerawork and some directorial ideas, you can feel yourself in their shoes,” film critic Yaroslav Pidhora-Hviazdovsky told the Kyiv Post.

Ukrainian historical action film “Dovbush” is expected to hit the cinemas on Nov. 10, 2020. One the most expensive movies in Ukraine’s history, it tells the story of a Ukrainian historical and folk hero Oleksa Dovbush who robbed the rich to give to the poor in the Carpathian Mountains. (Courtesy)

‘Dovbush’ — Nov. 10

While several times postponed, one of the most expensive movies in Ukraine’s history, “Dovbush” is expected to finally hit the cinemas in November. With a budget of Hr 86.7 million ($3.6 million) and a top Ukrainian director at the helm, this historical action film will tell the story of a Ukrainian Robin Hood of sorts.

The subject of the film is Oleksa Dovbush, an 18th-century historical figure and folk hero, who led and outlaw group after escaping imprisonment. His band, known as the “opryshky,” robbed rich landowners to give to Hutsuls, poor villagers in the Carpathian Mountains.

The director and co-writer is Oles Sanin, a veteran Ukrainian filmmaker whose two movies, “Mamay” and “The Guide,” Ukraine had selected to compete at the American Oscars. Sanin says that the writers reconstruct the story of Dovbush based on Ukrainian and Polish historical records.

“For Hutsuls, Olelska Dovbush is a man of hope, but we wanted to show him differently — not through stone figures or icons as a legend, but as a living man of flesh and blood, who suffers, loves and has the right to die,” Sanin says as quoted by Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture.

“’Dovbush’ may very well become something special: Not the least because it’s one of the most expensive Ukrainian films in history. It was also filmed in beautiful locations in the Carpathians and had unique costumes made for the film,” Pidhora-Hviazdovsky says.