Children's film festival to be held in Ukraine: Children's Film Festival will show films for children and adults

From June 13 to 22, Ukraine will host the 12th Children's Film Festival, the largest Ukrainian film festival for children and teenagers. Traditionally, the event will take place in a hybrid format: festival screenings will continue simultaneously in selected cinemas in Kyiv, Lviv, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Dnipro, Lutsk, Odessa, Poltava, Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi, Zaporizhia, and Chernihiv; for online viewing, the organizers have prepared a special program "The Most Valuable Cargo".

As always, screenings in cinemas and online are free of charge, subject to prior registration, which will begin on June 6. To register a group of more than 5 people, you should contact the local coordinator.

The general television partner is PLUSPLUS, and the official partner of the online cinema is the Kyivstar TV cinema and television platform.

In cinemas in 12 cities, you can watch films from the International Competition, and the best of them will be determined by audience voting. These are 7 new films from different European countries for children's audiences:

• "Dinosaur" (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia) is the largest project in the history of 3D animation in Poland, a participant in the world's main animation festival in Annecy 2024. This is a story about a little diplodocus who is looking for his missing parents in the company of a cheerful wizard, an eccentric scientist and a brave pilot.
• "The Bookwalker" (Germany) is a comedy adaptation of an international bestseller, translated into more than 30 languages. Winner of the Bavarian Film Award 2025. The story of a touching friendship between a reclusive bookstore salesman and a 9-year-old girl Shasha, who becomes his assistant.
• “Time Leap (Spain) is a science fiction comedy about two brothers who travel through time in an attempt to save their family.
• “District 5” (Slovenia, Czech Republic, Croatia, Serbia) is a prizewinner at the Locarno Film Festival and the winner of several Slovenian Film Awards. An adventure drama about teenagers who unite in the fight against a developer who wants to destroy their skate park.
• “Maya, Give Me a Name” (France) is a prizewinner at this year’s Berlinale. This is a cartoon by Oscar-winning director Michel Gondry, who gave the world the films “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “The Green Hornet”. The famous filmmaker dedicated this film to his daughter, portraying her as the heroine of various adventures.
• “Lars. LOL” (Norway) is an adaptation of the bestseller of the same name, nominated for the European Film Academy Award and winner of the Audience Award at Cinekid, the largest international children’s film festival. It is a sensitive drama about a girl who becomes a mentor and friend to a boy with Down syndrome.
• “The Last Time We Were Children” (Italy, France) is a nominee for the Italian national film award “Donatello”. This is a touching story that unfolds in the summer of 1943 around four children from different social classes. They are united by a strong friendship that is tested when one of them is taken away by the Nazis. Then the rest set off on a dangerous journey through Italy to save their friend.

The festival’s online cinema will feature a special program “The Most Valuable Cargo”. A carefully curated collection of films explores the most important mission of adults: protecting childhood even during turbulent historical periods:

• “The Most Precious Cargo” is a competition entry at last year’s Cannes Film Festival from Oscar-winning Michel Azanavičius. The story of a lumberjack and his wife who rescue a Jewish girl during World War II.
• "How Hitler Stole the Pink Rabbit" is the winner of the 2020 Bavarian Film Award. The story of nine-year-old Anna from Berlin, who is fleeing from the Nazis with her family.
• "Zoo" is a family film about friends trying to save animals from the local Belfast zoo during German bombing in 1941.

There will be several special events at the festival, which you can join both in the cinema and online:

Traditional retrospective screening of film classics. 2025 is the anniversary year for one of the most beloved children's heroines, which the famous writer Astrid Lindgren created 80 years ago. The festival will show the film "Pippi Longstocking" (1969) - the most famous screen incarnation of the unbridled red-haired rebel who won the hearts of children around the world.

Screening of the winning film of last year's festival "Summer of Surprises". This is an adaptation of a children's book by German writer Martin Muser, which tells the story of the adventurous journey of a boy named Finn, who attracts trouble.

A selection of finalist films of the annual Children's Film Competition, the acceptance of applications for which continues until May 16. During the festival, a professional jury will select the winners, and visitors to the film review will choose the prize-winner of the audience's sympathy. The best films will be announced at the festival's Closing Ceremony on June 22, and their creators will receive from 5,000 to 10,000 hryvnias.

Earlier, the festival announced that this year's honorary ambassador was singer and composer Svitlana Tarabarova. She is actively involved in charitable initiatives aimed at supporting children and the military. In particular, Svitlana became an ambassador for the gratitude project "Drawing a Hero", and together with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) created a children's movement to the song "I and You", which opened last year's Children's Film Festival. The artist is also the music producer of the national selection of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest for the second year in a row.