On September 4, the grand closing ceremony of the 17th Odesa International Film Festival took place at the Parkovy Convention and Exhibition Center in Kyiv. Despite numerous air raid alerts, this year’s festival programme was held as planned, featuring 84 films across 10 competitive and thematic programmes, with a total of 107 screenings.
The closing ceremony was hosted by Oksana Hutsait, Lyudmyla Barbir and Dasha Trehubova. The evening’s musical programme was performed by singer Aniko Dolidze. The ceremony traditionally began with words of gratitude to the Ukrainian military, followed by a minute of silence in memory of those who lost their lives.
Odesa International Film Festival Award Winners
One of the highlights of the evening was the announcement of the festival’s winners. In the International Competition, the Special Jury Prize went to *Brother*, directed by Polish filmmaker Maciej Sobieszczański. The jury named *Tell Everyone* by Finnish director Alli Haapasalo the Best International Feature Film.
The FIPRESCI Prize was awarded to *For Victory!* by Ukrainian director Valentyn Vasyanovych.
Among the Ukrainian entries, the Special Diploma of the National Competition was presented to *The Miner* by Mykola But. The award for Best Ukrainian Documentary went to *To Die To Live* by Yuliia Hontaruk, while the Best Ukrainian Feature Film award was presented to *For Victory!* by Valentyn Vasyanovych.
Grand Prix
The main award of the 17th Odesa International Film Festival — the Grand Prix — was awarded by the audience to the documentary *To Die To Live*, directed by Yuliia Hontaruk. The filmmaker received the traditional Golden Duke statuette, along with a cash prize of UAH 75,000.
The special MEGOGO prize of UAH 500,000, intended to support the film’s promotional campaign, was awarded to *For Victory!*.
Charitable Initiative
Charitable initiatives also played an important role at this year’s festival. As part of a joint fundraising campaign launched by the Odesa International Film Festival, the Come Back Alive Foundation and PrivatBank, UAH 103 million was raised for the Dronopad project.
This year’s Odesa International Film Festival was held with the support of the Ukrainian State Film Agency and the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation. The event was also supported by partners and sponsors representing Ukrainian business, media, the film industry and cultural organisations.
Guests of the Closing Ceremony
The red carpet of the closing ceremony brought together prominent representatives of Ukraine’s film industry, culture, television and show business. Among the guests were Yurii Yaroshenko, Natalka Denysenko, Tonya Noyabriova, Oleksii Hladushevskyi, Andrii Osipov, Pavlo Ostrikov, Iryna Ponomarenko, Anastasiia Polovynkina, Tetiana Vlasova, Hanna Kuzina, Serhii Kisil, Valeriia Tolochyna, Andrii Chornovol, Alik Shpyliuk, Vlad Darwin, Timur Aslanov, Anna Birzul, Taras Bosak, Svitlana Tretiakova and Nataliia Lukianets.
The evening’s hosts and representatives of the festival team included Lyudmyla Barbir, Anna Machukh, Dasha Trehubova and Oksana Hutsait.
The 17th Odesa International Film Festival thus concluded with an awards ceremony celebrating outstanding Ukrainian and international films while once again highlighting the vital role of Ukrainian cinema and culture, even amid the ongoing full-scale war.
