11 October 2023

Festival of the Festivals, FORMA, Midnight Special, Special Events, and Retrospective Program «Century» — Molodist has announced its Non-Competition Program

Molodist KIFF has announced the full Non-Competition Program, which includes more than 50 films selected from the world’s best film festival over the past year.

Festival of Festivals traditionally features the most prominent and successful films of the year. This year’s selection includes 9 films. In particular, it will host the Ukrainian premiere of Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s latest film Evil Does Not Exist, which won the Grand Jury Prize, the FIPRESCI Award and three more awards at the Venice Film Festival. In addition, Molodist offers its viewers a unique opportunity to watch Jaione Camborda’s The Rye Horn, which won the top prize at the San Sebastián Film Festival in late September. The program also includes Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell, awarded the Best First Feature at the Cannes Film Festival, Blaga’s Lessons by Stephan Komandarev, the Best Film winner at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, and A Thousand and One, which received the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. The screening of Adrian Silvestre’s My Emptiness and I, the winner of the first Ukrainian LGBTQIA+ film festival SUNNY BUNNY, founded by the Molodist KIFF team, is also scheduled.

The Special Event program is a true gift for aficionados of auteur films. Its highlight is the screening of Wicked Games: Rimini Sparta by the renowned Austrian director Ulrich Seidl. This three-hour version, combined from Seidl’s diptych Rimini and Sparta, was first presented earlier this year at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Prior to that, two films were released as separate full-length pieces. The program also features the new films by Denis Côté and Lav Diaz. In memory of the prominent film composer Ennio Morricone, the screening of Ennio by Giuseppe Tornatore will take place. Director Barbara Cupisti will present her film Wartime Notes, depicting the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The FORMA program showcases experimental cinema; here cinephiles will find a good deal of films that made a splash at the latest Berlinale. In particular, it will feature Here by Bas Devos, recognized as the Best Film in the Encounters section. As well as the bold piece Hello Dankness by art collective Soda Jerk, which will present a sharp and uncompromising portrait of the United States under Trump.

Festival’s traditional program «Century» is dedicated to the centenary of outstanding filmmakers of the past. It will include a screening of the 1990s hit with Robert Downey Jr. Chaplin, honoring the 100th anniversary of its director Richard Attenborough’s birth. The program will also feature a screening of William Wyler’s epic Ben-Hur, where the actor Charlton Heston played the lead role. Back in the day, this film caused quite a stir; it featured up to 50 thousand extras, and won 11 Academy Awards. Another classic on the agenda is the 1950 Hollywood piece All About Eve. The screening will be dedicated to the centenary of actress and writer Anne Baxter, who played the lead role in the film.

Several films will have their world and international premieres at Molodist. FORMA will feature the international premiere of The Accident by Italian director Giuseppe Garau, who will present the film in person and participate in the Q&A session after the screening. Kyiv will also host the world premiere of the Portuguese film The Drunk by Andre Marques as a part of the Midnight Special program. This program showcases vivid representatives of contemporary horror and thriller films meticulously selected by the festival’s program department. The Nightsiren, for instance, won the Golden Leopard in the Contemporary Cinema section at the Locarno Film Festival 2022.

As part of the Emerging Artists program, viewers can watch young German experimental films by film school students.

Molodist KIFF will be held offline in Kyiv on 21–29 October. The screenings will take place at Zhovten and Krakiv cinemas.

As previously announced, festival passes are now available for purchase. Festival pass holders will enjoy access to all screenings at Zhovten and Krakiv cinemas, except for the opening and closing ceremonies. Until October 15th, these passes can be acquired at a reduced rate of UAH 750.

For students, the festival offers a student pass, available at the discounted price of only 350 UAH until October 15th. Subsequently, from October 16th to October 21st, festival passes will be priced at UAH 1000, and student passes at UAH 500.

You can acquire your festival pass via the following link

The festival is supported by the Ukrainian State Film Agency, the Goethe-Institut, the Embassy of Switzerland in Ukraine, the Embassy of Italy in Ukraine, the Italian Cultural Institute in Ukraine, and the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine.

Festival of Festivals

Blaga's Lessons, Stephan Komandarev / Bulgaria / 2023, 114’

Slow, Marija Kavtaradze / Lithuania, Spain, Sweden / 2023, 108’

Fancy Dance, Erica Tremblay / USA / 2023, 90’

Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell, Pham Thien An / Vietnam, Singapore, France, Spain / 2023, 182’

My Emptiness and I, Adrian Silvestre / Spain / 2022, 98’

A Thousand and One, A.N.Rockwell / USA / 2023, 117’

Evil Does Not Exist, Ryusuke Hamaguchi / Japan / 2023, 106’

Music, Angela Schanelec / Germany, France, Serbia / 2023, 108’

The Rye Horn, Jaione Camborda / Spain, Portugal, Belgium / 2023, 105’

SE: Special Event

Wicked Games: Rimini Sparta, Ulrich Seidl / Austria, Germany, France / 2023, 205’

Ennio, Giuseppe Tornatore / Italy, Belgium, Japan, Netherlands / 2021, 156’

Wartime Notes, Barbara Cupisti / Italy / 2023, 90’

Mademoiselle Kenopsia, Denis Côté / Canada /2023, 80’

Essential Truths of the Lake, Lav Diaz / Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, Taiwan, Switzerland, United Kingdom / 2023, 215’

The Hunt, Carlos Saura / Spain / 1966, 91’

And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine, Axel Danielson, Maximilien Van Aertryck / Sweden, Denmark / 2023, 88’

Passion, Maja Borg / Sweden / 2021, 95’

MN: Опівнічний сеанс / Midnight Special (8 фільмів)

Nightsiren, Tereza Nvotova / Czech Republic, Slovakia / 2022, 106’

Raging Grace, Paris Zarcilla / UK / 2023, 99’

Whispering Mountains, Jagath Manuwarna / Sri Lanka /2023, 87’

At Night All the Cats Are Black, Valentin Merz / Switzerland / 2022, 110’

The Drunk, André Marques / Portugal / 2023, 120’

LaRoy, Shane Atkinson / USA / 2023, 112’

Tiger Stripes, Amanda Nell Eu / Malaysia, Taiwan, France, Germany, Netherlands, Singapore, Qatar, Indonesia / 2023, 95’

Captain Faggotron Saves the Universe, Harvey Rabbit / Germany / 2023, 70’

4MA: FORMA

Burning Fire, Michael Karrer / Switzerland / 2023, 74’

Hello Dankness, Soda Jerk / Australia / 2022, 70’

Here, Bas Devos / Belgium / 2023, 82’

You Have to Come and See It, Jonás Trueba / Spain / 2022, 64’

Arnold Is a Model Student, Sorayos Prapapan / Thailand, Singapore, France, Netherlands, Philippines / 2022, 83’

The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe Who Lived for Twenty and Eight Years All Alone on an Inhabited Island and Said It Was His, Benjamin Deboosere / Belgium / 2023, 75’

Samsara, Lois Patiño / Spain / 2023, 113’

The Accident, Giuseppe Garau / Italy / 2023, 72’

50 Horizons, Oleksiy-Nestor Naumenko / Ukraine / 2023, 77’

In Water, Hong Sang-soo / South Korea / 2023, 61’

EA: Emerging Artists

Saft, Mona Keil / Germany / 2022, 5’

Homesick Lungs, Felix Klee / Germany / 2021, 15’

Digital Ashes, Bruno Christofoletti Barrenha / Germany, Brazil / 2022, 12’

We Are What We Eat, Natalia Ehret / Germany / 2022, 2’

Pain Exercises, Keren Shemesh / Germany / 2022, 21’

The Sunset Special, Nicolas Gebbe / Germany / 2021, 17’

100: Century