08/12/2022 - From 1-7 December, viewers in Kyiv were able to watch 78 films from 37 countries, spread across 12 competitive and non-competitive programmes

The artistic director of the Molodist Film Festival, Andriy Khalpakhchi (right), during the awards ceremony

The Molodist Kyiv International Film Festival, which unspooled from 1-7 December, has ended in the capital of Ukraine, with the competition days taking place from the 1^st until the 3^rd and the audience days from the 4^th until the 7^th. During this time, viewers were able to watch 78 films from 37 countries, spread across 12 competitive and non-competitive programmes.

The Zhovten Cinema held a solemn awards ceremony for the winners of the 51st edition of the gathering. The jury announced the best films in the International Competition, and the guests at the ceremony watched the trailers of the winning movies.

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The films in the competition programme were weighed up by an international jury headed up by the director of the Berlinale, Germany’s Mariette Rissenbeek, who was joined by the director of the Ukrainian Institute, Volodymyr Sheyko, producer Oleksiy Terentiev, and the curator of the Toronto Film Festival, the USA’s Dorota Lech. They viewed the movies in three competition sections: Student, Short and Full-length.

The Grand Prix of the 51st Molodist was won by Pamfir [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk
interview: Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk
film profile] by Ukrainian director Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk. The film is about a former smuggler who returns to his native village shortly before the celebration of Malanka, and who is forced to get involved in his illegal business once again, by coincidence.

The best full-length film in the International Competition was deemed to be Joyland by Pakistani director Saim Sadiq. Its hero is a dancer raised in a conservative family, who enters the queer community and rethinks his own sensuality and sexuality.

Furthermore, the artistic director of the Molodist Film Festival, Andriy Khalpakhchi, handed the chair of the jury of the International Competition, Mariette Rissenbeek, an award for her contribution to the “development of cinematography”. Rissenbeek, the executive director of the Berlin International Film Festival, previously worked as the executive director of the German state-owned company German Films, which promotes the country’s cinema abroad. Khalpakhchi also announced the dates for the 52nd Molodist Film Festival: 21-28 October 2023.

The best full-length film in the National Competition was Stop-Zemlia [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kateryna Gornostai
film profile] by Kateryna Gornostai, a hybrid drama about the life of Kyiv teenagers, featuring characters that endure all of the things characteristic of their age: friendships undermined by their upcoming graduation from school, tense conversations with parents, preparations for exams and, of course, the awkwardness of first love.

The 51st Molodist Film Festival was held with the support of the Office of the President of Ukraine, and with funding from the Stabilisation Fund for Culture and Education, the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany and the Goethe-Institut.

Here is the full list of award winners:

Grand Prix
Pamfir [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk
interview: Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk
film profile] - Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk (Ukraine/France/Poland/Chile/Luxembourg/Germany)

International Competition

Best Feature Film
Joyland - Saim Sadiq (Pakistan)

Special Award
The Cage and the Dream - Valerio Fonseca (Brazil)

Special Distinction
Small Body [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laura Samani
film profile] - Laura Samani (Italy/France/Slovenia)

Best Short Film
All the Crows in the World - Yi Tang (Hong Kong)

Special Award
Alma y Paz – Cris Gris (Mexico, short)

Best Student Film
Love, Dad - Diana Cam Van Nguyen (Czech Republic/Slovakia, short)

National Competition

Best Feature Film
Stop-Zemlia [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kateryna Gornostai
film profile] - Kateryna Gornostai (Ukraine)

Best Short Film
Leopolis Night - Nikon Romanchenko (Ukraine)

Special Award
Dima, Dmitriy, Dmytro. Glory to the Heroes - Clemens Poole (Ukraine, short)