During an expedition, a young photographer miscalculates the time and misses her ride back to the city. At a bus stop, she meets a young man celebrating his birthday. With curfew approaching, the two strangers are forced to spend the night together at a roadside hotel.

The film was included in the anthology of short films Ukrainian New Wave: Сoming Together.

While cruising through the nocturnal streets of Kyiv, Anna, a woman who stops and films passing men, unexpectedly encounters a soldier. They start to discuss the men she observed.

The film was included in the anthology of short films Ukrainian New Wave: Сoming Together.

Once upon a time, there were two best friends, Kotyk (Kitty) and Pesyk (Doggie). They loved watching cartoons together and eating cereal with milk. Until one day, their house was flooded.

The film was included in the anthology of short films ‘Ukrainian New Wave: Сoming Together’.

Artem, a young documentary filmmaker, runs after elderly men with his camera rolling, driven by a maniacal desire to capture a ‘real person’, to explore ‘their little world’ and their loneliness.

In the end, Artem manages to track down a pensioner called Victor — a truly ordinary, unremarkable man with greying hair and glasses. That said, Grandad Victor isn’t exactly lonely: he has a family, a rather feisty grandson called Andriy, and, most importantly, a male hamster named Kristina.

The more time passes, the deeper Artem delves into Viktor’s ‘little world’, until suddenly, whilst out fishing together, instead of the coveted crucial carp, they pull up a mine, and Christina becomes the victim of the explosion. And so the game that had captivated these two very different people take a completely different turn . . .

The film was included in the anthology of short films Ukrainian New Wave: Сoming Together.

An anthology of Ukrainian short films seeks to answer the question: how can we love and forge new bonds in a society scarred by war? 

Films by young Ukrainian directors highlight how our hard-won resilience has not diminished people’s need for one another, but has only strengthened it. This edition of the ‘Ukrainian New Wave’ film festival reflects how, instantly, we all became familiar strangers, sharing common plans, goals, and dreams.

The anthology features award-winning films from international and Ukrainian film festivals, ambitious debuts, and student films:

• It's Over Now
• Kotyk and Pesyk Seeking Home
• Natural Balance
• Shrimp, Switch, Cigarette Butt & a Little Bottle
• Prelude
• Curfew

Loved ones and familiar places, the stone-carved facades of the houses and apricot trees lining the streets, the hydroelectric power station my grandfather helped build, and the roofs of bright red tiles — my childhood memories of Nova Kakhovka are as colourful and warm as a bountiful southern summer. But when war comes to the town, it will remain that way only in your memory.

The film was included in the anthology of short films ‘Ukrainian New Wave: Сoming Together’.