On June 22, the closing ceremony of the 12th Children's Film Festival and the awarding of the laureates took place at the Oscar cinema in the capital. The ceremony was hosted by Nelya Shovkoplyas, the host of the project "Breakfast with 1+1" on 1+1 Ukraine, a mentor of the social project "Make a Dream Come True" from 1+1 media. The audience chose the Italian-French film "The Last Time We Were Children" as the best film of the festival, which received 4.7 points. Based on the Italian novel of the same name, the film tells the story of four children who play at war while a real one explodes around them.

The festival also hosted the ninth Children's Film Competition. The organizers received 140 applications from children from different parts of Ukraine and temporary migrants abroad, among whom 19 finalists were selected. The winners were determined by a professional jury of Ukrainian filmmakers: director of the film "Bad Roads" and showrunner of the series "Catching Kaidash" Natalka Vorozhbyt, actress Marina Koshkina, known for her roles in the film "House "Word". An Endless Romance" and the series "And There Will Be People", as well as producer of the films "La Palisade" and "House Behind Glass" Valeria Sochyvets.

Results of the Children's Film Competition:

Grand Prix (prize of 10,000 UAH) — "Wings of Victory" (directors Varvara Vasilyeva, 9 years old, Emma Ivanochko, 9 years old, Zlatoslava Sribna, 10 years old, Khotyn city, Chernivtsi region);

Best animated film in the category 7-10 years old (5,000 UAH) — "The Witch Megan and Toothless" (director Roman Golenko, 10 years old, Dnipro city);

Best animated film in the category 11-14 years old (5,000 UAH) — "What is the meaning of life" (director Zoryana Zelenska, 13 years old, Kyiv city);

Best feature film in the category 11-14 years old (5,000 UAH) — "Meteorite Seekers" (director Olena Balatsyuk, 14 years old, Fastiv city, Kyiv region);

The Audience Award, which is awarded based on the audience vote and a prize of UAH 7,000, went to the film “What is the Meaning of Life” by Zoryana Zelenska.

The jury of the Union of Film Critics of Ukraine, consisting of Oksana Volosheniuk, Lyudmila Novikova, and Anton Frolov, joined the festival for the second time, evaluating the artistic film expressions of children and adolescents in the children's film competition. The film “Circular Trolleybus” by director Maya Zakharova and students of the “Stop Motion” course of the Mystetsky Murashnyk School (9 years old, Poltava city) was awarded a diploma – “For deep respect for the heritage of the past and the creation of an expressive film expression that turns a familiar circle into a cosmic orbit of dreams.”

The finalist films will later be available to watch on the Children Film Festival YouTube channel.

The 12th International Film Festival for Children and Teenagers Children Kinofest was held in a hybrid format. The screenings, which took place in cinemas in Kyiv, Lviv, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Dnipro, Lutsk, Ode ot si, Poltava, Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi, Zaporizhia and Chernihiv, gathered 20 thousand spectators. And another 20 thousand spectators watched the Children Kinofest films in the online cinema and on the Kyivstar TV platform. The most popular film of the special online cinema was the film “Pippi Longstocking”, which the Children Kinofest viewers watched as part of a retrospective screening dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the heroine created by Astrid Lindgren.

The honorary ambassador of the festival in 2025 is Svitlana Tarabarova, a Ukrainian singer, composer, and mother of six-year-old Ivan, four-year-old Maria, and two-year-old Polina. Svitlana is actively involved in charitable initiatives aimed at supporting children and the military. The artist is also the music producer of the national selection of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest for the second year in a row.

Free master class by Victoria Shulzhenko

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