Kyiv Critics’ Week x NL
May 9 – May 11: the best of Ukrainian cinema
From May 9 till May 11, Kyiv Critics’ Week x NL showcases the best of Ukrainian cinema, selected and presented by Ukrainian film critics Daria Badior, Hanna Datsiuk and Serhii Ksaverov.
Since February 2022, when Russia launched its full scale invasion of Ukraine, more than 6 million Ukrainians have been forced to leave their homes. This is a continuation of a long history of emigration driven by conflict, economic hardship, and political instability. A history that has deeply influenced Ukrainian cinema, infusing its narratives with questions of identity, exile, and hope.
Revolving around the theme ‘Away From Home’, KCW x NL2025 presents five feature-length and three short films, exploring the topic of emigration in different ways.
About Kyiv Critics Week x NL
Kyiv Critics’ Week is one of Ukraine’s most prominent film festivals. De Balie initiated a collaboration with Kyiv Critics’ Week to bring hidden gems from the past as well as the latest highlights of Ukrainian cinema to Amsterdam.
The screenings are each followed by a discussion in which a Ukrainian and a Dutch film critics participate. They offer different perspectives on the film and provide a meeting point for two cultures that have increasingly interacted in recent years.
This year the project is expanding beyond Amsterdam, with the goal to include broader Dutch audiences and Ukrainian diaspora from different cities.
Kyiv Critics Week x NL is made possible with the support of Steunfonds Oekraïense makers, Stichting Droom en Daad, Gemeente Rotterdam, Ukrainian Institute and Embassy of Ukraine.
Kyiv Critics’ Week programmes
Determined to be reunited with his beloved, Orest embarks on a journey through extraordinary events.
Kyiv Critics’ Week presents three Ukranian shorts. Three films about belonging, family and crisis.
In the no man’s land situated in the heart of the conflict between Russian and Ukrainian forces, longtime neighbors take in soldiers from both sides.
After Earth explodes, a lonely Ukrainian space trucker Andriy believes he is the only survivor until a French scientist Catherine appears on the radio.
Set in the 19th century, Stone Cross follows the story of a Ukrainian peasant who leaves his ancestral home to seek a better life in Canada.
Fragments of Ice is a documentary essay woven from a rare family VHS archive of a Soviet Ukrainian Ballet on Ice star.
