Ukrainian films about the USSR

The breakout of the war shatters the world of a young student, Lyudmila Pavlichenko, forcing her to enlist in the army in 1941. The maiden turns out to be a natural-born sniper, her impressive skill and prowess make her stand out among men and women alike. Seeing Pavlichenko as a tangible threat, the German High Command gives orders to eliminate the girl whatever the cost. In the meanwhile, Lyudmila meets a man and falls in love. War fades into the background... Soon, however, another misfortune befalls Lyudmila leaving the man she loves on the brink of death and herself seriously wounded. The girl is pulled out of combat and later goes to the United States with a publicity visit. Eleanor Roosevelt welcomes Lyudmila in the White House and the two women soon become close. It won't be long before Pavlichenko stands before an audience in Chicago pressing for a second front. Will her words have the capacity to change the course of war?

Based on the true story of the "death match" where the Soviet team "Start" scored its second victory over the German team «Flakelf» on August 9, 1942

In March 1933, Welsh journalist Gareth Jones travel to Ukraine, where he experiences at first hand the horrors of a famine. Everywhere he goes he meets henchmen of the Soviet secret service who are determined to prevent news about the catastrophe from getting out. Stalin’s forced collectivisation of agriculture has resulted in misery and ruin; the policy is tantamount to mass murder. Supported by Ada Brooks, a New York Times reporter, Jones succeeds in spreading the shocking news.

Vitaly Mansky’s intimate and insightful new documentary finds him crisscrossing the Ukraine in the wake of the Maidan uprising, which has left his relatives scattered on both sides of a highly charged and dizzyingly complex political situation.

In the world, there is a city-port Odessa, which was specially created as a refuge for people of different nationalities and religions. Humor is a special language that helps people from Odessa to communicate and get along with each other. Legends are spreading about Odessa's humor and accent. But - a paradox - people are constantly leaving it. It is loved, but it is left as a child leaves his mother. On the example of this city and its inhabitants, we wanted to understand - why people flee from their cities. We tried to find the answer taking pictures of Odessa citizens in Germany, Israel, Ukraine, Russia, Austria, France and other places. Michael Zhvanetskij, Roman Kartsev, Leonid Barats and Rostislav Khait Victor Loshak,  Oksana Fandera, Valerij Todotovskij, Mikhail and Anatoly Kontush and many others are telling their stories and giving their opinions on what is the phenomenon of the city by the Black Sea.

Everything is destined, isn't it?

The horror story, imbued with the search for the true evil in this world. The most ancient legends of folklore will be recreated from the ancient beliefs about the otherworldly evil of the Kazakh region. Retelling again, they will merge into the realities of our days. We will see Zhestyrnak, Zhalmauyz Kempir and the Ghost from the Kapchagai highway. In their appearance, the heroes of the film will try to recognize the authenticity of evil, which for centuries has cooled blood and deprived of life. But the bitterness of truth itself will find them - "There is no worse in the world - man."

Levan Koguashvili’s film — about a lonely 40-year-old schoolteacher who takes up with the wife of a soon-to-be-released convict — is a compassionate tragicomedy commenting on relationships and the profound emotional responsibilities they trigger.

Deaf mute Sergey enters a specialized boarding school for deaf-and-dumb. In this new place, he needs to find his way through the hierarchy of the school’s network dealing with crimes and prostitution, the Tribe. By taking part of several robberies, he gets propelled higher into the organization. Then he meets one of the Chief’s concubines Anya, and unwillingly breaks all the unwritten rules of the tribe.

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American boy Peter and blind minstrel Ivan are thrown together by fate amidst the turbulent mid-30s Soviet Ukraine.

Growing up near the border, money wasn’t an issue for them. Suddenly, a pretty woman appears on their way and ruins all of their plans. Get ready for the ground shaking adventures when these three men risk everything to make their dreams a reality

Halla declares a one-woman-war on the local aluminium industry. She is prepared to risk everything to protect the pristine Icelandic Highlands she loves… Until an orphan unexpectedly enters her life.

Rokas and Inga, a couple of young Lithuanians, volunteer to drive a cargo van of humanitarian aid to Ukraine. They cross the vast snowy lands of the Donbass region, drifting into the lives of those affected by the war.

It is 1953, Stalin has just died. It is a troubled and uncertain period for the whole of the Soviet Union, particularly for the state security services. In the Institute, a secret research facility, the scientists continue their theoretical and experimental work. Every night they strain their ears to listen for footsteps in the dark corridors: who have they come for this time? Who has reported on who? Having survived the fear and humiliation of an interrogation, the Head of the Theoretical Department, Andrei Losev, refuses to cooperate with the security services, only to face a new ordeal back in his own home.

The crew of Ukrainian NAVY minesweeper U311 "Cherkasy" is resisting seizure of the vessel by Russian army in Crimea in 2014.

Mavka — a Soul of the Forest and its Warden — faces an impossible choice between love and her duty as guardian to the Heart of the Forest, when she falls in love with a human — the talented young musician Lukas.

In the Donbas, a region of Eastern Ukraine, a hybrid war takes place, involving an open armed conflict alongside killings and robberies on a mass scale perpetrated by separatist gangs. In the Donbass, war is called peace, propaganda is uttered as truth and hatred is declared to be love. A journey through the Donbas unfolds as a chain of curious adventures, where the grotesque and drama are as intertwined as life and death. This is not a tale of one region, one country or one political system. It is about a world, lost in post-truth and fake identities. It is about each and every one of us.

GHOUL is a supernatural horror film involving the real life story of the Soviet Union's most violent serial killer, Andrei Chikatilo. Three Americans travel to the Ukraine to film a documentary about the cannibalism epidemic that swept through the country during the famine of 1932. After being lured deep into the Ukraine forest for an interview with one of the last known survivors, they quickly find themselves trapped in a supernatural hunting ground.

A soldier suffering from PTSD befriends a young volunteer hoping to restore peaceful energy to a war-torn society.

One day a friend will betray you, and the enemy at the crucial moment will save lives.

The Russian Czar Peter the Great commissions Jonathan Green, an English traveller, to map the Far East territories of the Russian Empire. Green sets off on yet another long journey, full of unbelievable adventures, which eventually leads him to China. On his way, the famous cartographer makes breath-taking discoveries, meets mysterious creatures, Chinese princesses, deadly masters of oriental martial arts, and even Lun Van, the King of Dragons, himself. What could be more perilous than looking into the eyes of Viy? Only meeting him again… What will prevail this time — the unflinching scepticism of the scientist or ancient black magic, which has already gained influence over the Far East Lands?

A comics about superhero philosophers, who get involved in various predicaments and try to utter God's name.The movie is made up of eight episodes, each in its own genre. There are detective stories, a Western, a thriller, a conspiracy movie, horrors, and comedies - It is a fantastic voyage through the jungle of reason.

Eight friends meet in Odessa to look at their friend's new entertainment club. The club has many exciting rooms where you can play the usual games - "mafia" or "crocodile", but the main concept of the club is "Detectorroom" - a room with an unique and super-accurate lie detector. The owner of the club tries to dissuade his friends to play a dangerous game, but everyone wants to nerve their nerves and to find out each other's private secrets. Friends have a good time and joking with each other, but after four game tours (Fun, Strip, Full Play and Duel), they will never be the same again. But who knows, maybe, it's even better?

At the end of the 19th century, somewhere in the outskirts of the Russian Empire, a doctor administers a lethal overdose of ether to a young woman – the object of his desire. After getting away with his crime, he finds employment in a fortress, where he continues his experiments with ether to manage pain and manipulate human behaviour. Despite his evilness, it is not too late for his soul to be saved from eternal damnation…

Vasyl Seredyuk - head of the local Museum - having sent his daughter Katya to a french university, never expected the outcome: a month ago she informed him that she is getting married to a French heart surgeon François. Since then Vasyl’s proud statement spread throughout the whole region: “The Seredyuks have made their European choice!". How huge was his surprise when he saw that the cherished European future son-in-law is a Frenchman of African origin. Organizing a wedding so that it never happens seems like a brilliant idea. But when true love stands in the way, the success of such plan is not a given.

Inside the Chornobyl exclusion zone Grandma Prisa, the family matriarch, consorts with water nymphs, eats a diet filled with hallucinogenic mushrooms, and claims to have personally stabbed 12 SS soldiers to death during World War II. She lives together with her divorced and chronically ill daughter Slava and grandson Vova. Unexpectedly, their measured life comes to an end - Grandma Prisa receives a mystical warning about an impending catastrophe.

Set in the 16th century, this is a story about Ukraine's Cossack warriors and their campaign to defend their lands from the advancing Polish armies.

Famous lake in Carpathian mountains -- lake Synevir -- is known for its rich history throughout the hundreds of years as a place of mystical unexplained events. There is a group of students who decided to spend a weekend at the lake. They did not believe in those stories about lake Synevir and the strange creatures around it. Too bad for them....

Can you imagine what it means to grow up as the child of a mass murderer? Hans Frank and Otto von Wächter were indicted as war criminals for their roles in WWII. Nazi Governors and consultants to Hitler himself, the two are collectively responsible for thousands of deaths. But what stood out to Philippe Sands were the impressions they left on their sons. While researching the Nuremberg trials, the human rights lawyer came across two men who re-focused his studies: Niklas Frank and Horst von Wächter. The men hold polar opposite views on the men who raised them.

Tatiana makes her escape from prison and seeks a hideout in a remote village of Pavlovka, in her late grandmother’s house. There she meets Maxim who has come to the village to take a break from the hectic city life. Instant chemistry sparks between them. Everything would be just fine were it not for Tatiana’s ex-boyfriend, Oleg, who comes to the village looking for her. Tatiana is forced to tell Maxim the whole truth about herself. She tells him about the robbery she committed together with Oleg and how she took all the blame on herself and then escaped from prison. Maxim assures her that he will be by her side no matter what and will help her get through all this. But things are not as simple as they seem, because Maxim isn’t who he pretends to be.

The main character Rita is kind and sweet young woman, who can’t say “no” and is ready to help anyone who asks, and therefore is constantly being used by her family and friends. Her sister Olga is pursuing a career, leaving her children to Rita; her love interest Vlad uses her by borrowing money and never giving it back, and also by getting Rita to do his work; Rita’s mother Nina is thinking only about her questionable business. Rita herself, while being a talented inventor of modern gadgets, is a freelance employee at an advertising company, where Olga is a creative director. Olga gets fame for all Rita’s inventions. One day, everything changes.

Fresh out of jail, Ulysse has only one idea in mind: making money. Confronted by his depressed mother, Gabrielle, the bills that never stop piling up and his desire to live his life to the full, he makes a plan. With his best friend, David, he travels from rave to rave, selling a mixture of water and Ketamine from their food truck. Together, they hit the road...

In the autumn of 2014, in the ATO zone, an intelligence group headed by experienced captain Anton Sayenko (called by nickname "Banderas") tries to prevent sabotage and neutralize the Russian saboteur.

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In an ordinary looking apartment, a father and daughter play a game of hide-and-seek. While searching for his daughter, she is nowhere to be found... Later, a video is posted which shows the girl holding a sign with a mysterious set of numbers. But what do they mean? She’s the first of several children who disappear without a trace in a small industrial town.Young detectives Varta Naumova and Maksim Shumov take on the complex case and… their own demons. Varta is a distant person and extremely protective of her personal space, while Maksim comes across as an easy-going sociable guy. Both have experienced trauma in their lives, and this case touches them on a deeper level. They become personally vested in finding the children and apprehending the kidnapper as they face their respective pasts.

12-year-old dreamer Vlad accidentally gets caught in a conflict between two alien forces. Together with an electric transformer box The Bobot, a brave girl and an eccentric scientist he has to save the world from a global catastrophe.

A modern take on a classical tale about the musicians from the town of Bremen.

A secret Soviet Institute conducts scientific and occult experiments on animals and human beings to create the perfect person. The KGB general and his aides turn a blind eye to erotic adventures of the director of the Institute, scandalous debauches of prominent scientists and their cruel and insane research. One day, a radical ultra right-wing group arrives in the laboratory under the guise of test subjects. They get a task - to eradicate the decaying elements of the Institute’s community, and if needs be, destroy the fragile world of secret Soviet science.

Little Nicky, the son of the Tanner, a famous strongman, has made up his mind, that he can conquer the dragon as his father did long ago. Against prohibition of his father, Nicky has managed to get into trouble and now it depends only on his courage, whether he defeats the resurgent dragon and returns home from the magic world.

Loosely inspired by Dostoyevsky’s short story A Gentle Creature about a woman who travels to a prison in a remote region to track down her incarcerated husband.

June 1946: Stalin invites Russian emigres to return to the motherland. It's a trap: when a ship-load from France arrives in Odessa, only a physician and his family are spared execution or prison. He and his French wife (her passport ripped up) are sent to Kiev. She wants to return to France immediately; he knows that they are captives and must watch every step.