The Dovzhenko Centre, in collaboration with the "Zhovten" cinema, is organizing the "Kyiv Film Fest" in honor of Kyiv Day, taking place from May 22 to 26.

This year's festival theme is "Kyiv Through the Ages". According to the organizers, audiences will witness the evolving representation of Kyiv on screen through classic and contemporary films, spanning from the Middle Ages to the revolutionary 1920s and the turbulent 1990s.

The opening film of the festival will be "Wild Love" (1993) by Vylen Novak from the Dovzhenko Centre's collection, which will be specially scanned again with the support of the "Zhovten" cinema.

"Wild Love" was a box office hit in 1994 and received awards at the "Sutizya" festival (1994), "White Stork" festival (1995), and "White Angel" festival (1996).

The protagonist, Max, hails from a so-called "wealthy" family and is in love with Masha, a girl from an orphanage, where the "Soviet educational policy" is most evident. This story could have ended in a conventional heterosexual marriage, but an American, Susan, arrives in Kyiv, turning the romantic plot into a dramatic triangle.

"This traditional love story unfolds in the transgressive atmosphere of the early years of independence – a time of free market, open borders, and exposed bodies, transforming into a unique document of the era", the Dovzhenko Centre noted.

About the Festival

The Kyiv Film Fest is an annual film festival dedicated to Kyiv Day, aimed at merging cinematic art with urban identity, reactivating iconic Ukrainian films, and showcasing works that remain largely unknown to contemporary audiences.