The 13th Children Kinofest Announced Its Winners

On June 21, the closing ceremony of the 13th Children Kinofest and the award presentation to the laureates took place at the Oscar Cinema in Kyiv. The general television partner was the PLUSPLUS TV channel, while the official partner of the online cinema was Kyivstar TV. The ceremony was hosted by Iryna Kondrachuk, a presenter at 1+1 media.

The audience selected the Swiss adventure film “Barry. The Saint Bernard” as the Best Film of the Festival, awarding it a score of 4.78 points. Based on real events, the film tells the story of an orphan boy from an Alpine monastery who raises a puppy that will later become the most famous rescue dog in the world.

This year, the festival hosted the anniversary 10th Children’s Film Competition. The organizers received more than 120 submissions from children from different parts of Ukraine and temporarily displaced Ukrainians abroad, among which 18 finalists were selected.

The winners were determined by a professional jury of Ukrainian filmmakers: animation director Anastasiia Falileieva, film producer and veteran Volodymyr Yatsenko, and documentary filmmaker and veteran Alisa Kovalenko.

Results of the Children’s Film Competition:

• Grand Prix (award of UAH 10,000) — “Angels Seem to Appear” (director Veronika Kostiukova, 12 years old, Ivano-Frankivsk);
• Best Animated Film in the 7–10 Age Category (UAH 5,000) — “The Adventures of a Coin” (director Danylo Petruk, 8 years old, Netishyn, Khmelnytskyi Region);
• Best Animated Film in the 11–14 Age Category (UAH 5,000) — “Perfect-UN-ness” (directors Adam Loshnevskyi, Vsevolod Abrakhmanov, Zlatoslava Sribna, 11 years old, Khotyn);
• Best Live-Action Film in the 11–14 Age Category (UAH 5,000) — “A Strange Vacancy” (director Mark Morozov, 12 years old, Lviv);
• Audience Choice Award, determined by audience voting, along with a prize of UAH 7,000, was awarded to “Where Is Your Focus?” (director Marta Romancha, 13 years old, Kryvyi Rih).

For the third time, the jury of the Ukrainian Film Critics Union participated in the festival. The jury consisted of Oksana Volosheniuk, Alona Penzii, and Mila Novikova, who evaluated the artistic film statements of children and teenagers in the Children’s Film Competition.

Diplomas were awarded to the films “Perfect-UN-ness” “for the organic combination of form and inner content” and “Where Is Your Focus?” “for the poetic nature of its form and the independence of artistic thinking.”

Later, the finalist films will be available to watch on the Children Kinofest YouTube channel.

The 13th International Film Festival for Children and Teenagers, Children Kinofest, took place in a hybrid format. Screenings held in cinemas in Kyiv, Lviv, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Dnipro, Lutsk, Odesa, Poltava, Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi, Zaporizhzhia, and Chernihiv attracted 20,000 viewers. Another 40,000 viewers watched Children Kinofest films in the online cinema and on the Kyivstar TV and Brobaks platforms. Films from the online programme remain available for viewing until June 30.

This year’s Honorary Ambassador of the festival was Rymma Zyubina — a Ukrainian theatre and film actress, TV host, and civic activist known for her roles in the films The Nest of the Turtledove, The Trumpeter, Pamfir, and in the sitcom Liusia Intern.

The actress has a son, Danyil, who has appeared in films since the age of two. In particular, he played the leading role in the short film Haidamaka and voiced Mylo in the animated film Moms Got Stuck on Mars. Currently, Danyil serves in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Supported by

UNICEF, the EU programme Creative Europe, the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation, and the State Film Agency of Ukraine.

Partners

Embassy of France in Ukraine, French Institute at the Embassy of France in Ukraine, UKRSIBBANK, Embassy of Norway in Ukraine, Embassy of Belgium in Ukraine, Embassy of Finland in Ukraine, Embassy of Spain in Ukraine, Goethe-Institut Ukraine, Embassy of Italy in Ukraine, Italian Institute of Culture in Ukraine, Polish Institute in Kyiv, Embassy of Sweden in Ukraine, Embassy of Switzerland in Ukraine, Embassy of Ireland in Ukraine.

Closing Ceremony Partners

The network of modern children’s entertainment centres Kraina Mriy, and Avalon water.

General Media Partner

Suspilne Culture.

General Television Partner

PLUSPLUS.

Official Partner

Kyivstar TV.

Official Online Cinema Partner

Brobaks.

Media Partners

Osvitoria Media, Na Urok, New Ukrainian School, Dity v Misti, Ranok Publishing House, EasyPay.

Background Information

Jury of the Ukrainian Film Critics Union

The Jury of the Ukrainian Film Critics Union operates at many Ukrainian film festivals and presents special awards recognizing achievements in cinema. Within Children Kinofest, it evaluates the finalists of the Children’s Film Competition 2026.

Oksana Volosheniuk — Head of the Ukrainian Film Critics Union, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Film Studies of the I. K. Karpenko-Karyi Kyiv National University of Theatre, Cinema and Television, member of FIPRESCI, film historian.

Liudmyla Novikova — Head of the Department of Audiovisual Arts and Production at the I. K. Karpenko-Karyi Kyiv National University of Theatre, Cinema and Television, Candidate of Art Studies. Between 1989–1993 and 1998–2008, she worked in the management of the Kyiv International Film Festival Molodist and is a member of FIPRESCI.

Alona Penzii — Head of the Dovzhenko Centre Film Archive, film critic, and curator of film and exhibition projects.

Jury of Ukrainian Filmmakers

Anastasiia Falileieva — animation film director, stop-motion animator, the first Ukrainian animation director whose film I Died in Irpin was shortlisted for the Academy Awards.

Volodymyr Yatsenko — Ukrainian film producer, founder of the advertising production company Limelite and the film production company ForeFilms, which he established in 2020 together with Anna Yatsenko. The company’s films include Wild Field, Homeward, Atlantis, Reflection, Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Me and Felix, and U Are the Universe.

Alisa Kovalenko — Ukrainian documentary filmmaker, human rights activist, and veteran. Her key works include Alisa in Warland (IDFA 2015), Home Games, and We Will Not Fade Away. After Russia’s full-scale invasion, Alisa voluntarily joined the front line and later returned to filmmaking with her personal documentary With Love from the Front.