UFF: Short Films, Block 4

MY GRANDMOTHER IS A SKYDIVER/UNAVAILABLE/UKRAINE 2025: SUMMER/ CALM/AND THE WIND RETURNS/

MOYA BABUSYA — ParachutistKareż. Polina Piddubna/2025/13'

Description

In Tajikistan in the 1960s, a skydiver receives a call from her granddaughter from Ukraine in 2022, ushering in a generational journey through trauma, memory and identity.

awards

2025 — Premiere at Festival de Cannes/La Cinef2026 — Serhiy Paradzhanov Award for Best Animated Debut 2026 — Golden Dragon Award in the category “Best Animated Film”

Metric

Genre: Animation, Documentary

Director: Polina PiddubnaEditing: Jin Ju LeeProducer: Polina PiddubnaLanguages: Ukrainian, Bashkir, Tajik, Russian, Tatar

Subtitles: PolskiRegion/year/ time: Germany, Ukraine/2025/13'

POLINA PIDDubnaResearcher, artist and activist with Ukrainian and Central Asian (Tatar and Bashkir) roots. She was born and raised in Kharkov, started her career in Kiev and has been living in Berlin since 2019. He holds a bachelor's degree in animation and is currently pursuing a master's degree in animation directing at the Filmuniversität Babelsberg Konrad Wolf in Potsdam. She also organizes social and educational projects, works at film festivals and conducts artistic research around decolonial themes.

UNAVAILABLE/UNAVAILABLE

dir. Kyrylo Zemlyanyi/2025/Ukraine/20'

DescriptionSerhiy, a young volunteer, loses contact with his mother, who is in the occupied territory. When the woman finally decides to evacuate, the boy learns that a humanitarian convoy from his hometown has been destroyed as a result of the bombing.

2025 — World Premiere at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival2025 — “Molodist” International Film Festival in Kiev (National Competition): Special Jury Award and Critics' Award2026 — Chiaroscuro International Film Festival: Best Picture Award2026 — Film O'Clock International Festival: Audience Award

MetryczkaGenre: DramaDirector, screenplay: Kyrylo Zemlyanyi

Cinematographer: Vladyslav Dorofieiev

Edited by: Ann Sophie Wieder

Cast: Vladyslav Makariuk

Producers: Inna Lastochkina, Nikolai Yaroshenko

Language: Ukrainian

Subtitles: polskie

Country/year/time: Ukraine/2025/20'

KYRYLO ZEMLYANYIUkrainian film director born in Tokmak. He holds a doctorate in film arts and works as a lecturer at the Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University, where he teaches directing and screenwriting. He is a member of the Ukrainian Film Academy and the National Union of Filmmakers of Ukraine.

UKRAINE 2025: SUMMER/UKRAINE 2025 SUMMER

directed by Joel Espi/2026/Switzerland/16'

The film is a form of visual diary — a subtle, almost silent film poem that looks at bodies in motion and captured moments of everyday life. The narrative unfolds in a rough, ragged rhythm, reflecting the structure of wartime reality, where a sense of security and constancy give way to uncertainty, and small gestures acquire a deep, existential dimension.

MetricsCategory: DocumentsSeriesSeries, written by: Joel Espi

Cinematography, editing: Joel Espi

Producer: Joel Espi

Country/year/time: Switzerland/2026/16'

JOEL ESPISZSwiss director, journalist and writer. Graduated in Photography, Journalism and Fine Arts at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. Author of literary publications and short fiction etudes. His feature documentary debut Under the Protection (Protected, 2026) focuses on the character of artist Halyna Andrusenko.

CALM/ CALMNESS

dir. Jan Jałoszyński/2026/Poland/25'

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, about 12.5 million Ukrainian citizens have crossed the Polish border. One of them is Oleh. Fleeing the war, he tries to build a new life for himself and his family.

MetryczkaGenre: DramaDirector, screenplay: Jan Jałoszyński

Cinematography: Łukasz Łatanik

Editing: Jan Jałoszyński

Cast: Roman Lutskyi

Produced by: Kieślowski Film School

Languages: Ukrainian, Polish

Country/year/time: Poland/ 2026/25'

JAN JAŁOSZYNSKI

Graduated in Directing at the Krzysztof Kieślowski Film School in Katowice and the Wajda School in Warsaw. He works as a director, creates audiovisual projects, shoots as a director of the second team and works in the directing division on feature film productions.

AND THE WIND RETURNS/AND THE WIND TRUSTS

dir. Ernes Sarykhalilov/2024/Ukraine/25'

In the early 1990s, photographer Rifhat Yakupov documented the return of the Crimean Tatars to their homeland after decades of deportation. Thirty years later, he returns to his archive and finds the protagonists of those pictures to look at their fate anew.

Awards2026 — 3rd International Archaeofilm Festival “Gordion” (Ankara-Polatlı, Turkey): Finalist in the International Professional Competition2026 — Official Selection for the 1st International Film Festival of Crimea (Istanbul, Turkey)

MetricsCategory: DocumentsSeriesSeries, screenplay: Ernes Sarykhalilov

Editing: Ernes Sarykhalilov

Producer: Ernes Sarykhalilov, Cemaat Media

Language: Russian

Country/year/time: Ukraine/2024/25'

ERNES SARYKHALILOVCrimeTatar director, cinematographer and screenwriter. A graduate of the Kiev Karpenki-Kary University. Creator working in Ukraine, Turkey and Ireland, author of the plot The Last Arif and the documentary I The Wind Returns. In her work, she explores themes of memory, cultural identity and the relationship of man with place and landscape.