The Kyiv’s Zhovten Cinema hosted the grand opening of the 12th Austrian Film Week festival with the support of the Austrian Embassy in Ukraine and CFC Big Ideas. The film festival began with a screening of the drama A Whole Life by Hans Steinbichler, an adaptation of the bestselling novel of the eponymous title by Robert Seethaler.
The Austrian Film Week has been an annual event in Ukraine for more than a decade, with the exception of 2022 when it was canceled due to the Russian full-scale invasion. Once again, the film festival had a charitable purpose, as the event is aimed at raising funds for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The general partner will donate an amount of money equivalent to the festival’s box office to support Ukraine in its fight against the aggressor country.
The opening ceremony was attended by actresses Rimma Zyubina, Natalia Babenko, singer Anna Zavalska, Deputy Minister of Culture Taras Shevchenko, blogger Marina Teplova, bloggers Stepan Yeranosyan and Maksym Kireev, co-founder and CEO of Ukrainian Fashion Week Iryna Danylevska, producer Olekso Gladushevsky, curator Katya Taylor, and social activist Yana Altukhova, Kyiv TV channel host Olesya Turchyn, celebrity makeup artist Ksenia Vovk, co-founder of 13 friends event company Anna Malinovska, designer and stylist Angela Chygryn, Elle editor-in-chief Sonya Zabuga, Marie Claire editor-in-chief Iryna Tatarenko, film critic Inna Gordeeva, film critics Kirill Pischikov, Igor Kromf, Dmitry Sidorenko and others.
The event was also attended by diplomats from European countries, namely Antal Heizer, Ambassador of Hungary to Ukraine, Valeriu Chiveri, Ambassador of the Republic of Moldova to Ukraine, Elena Leticia Mikusinski, Ambassador of the Argentine Republic to Ukraine, Radek Pech, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Ukraine.
Following the festival in Kyiv, the Austrian Film Week will be held in other Ukrainian cities: April 22-24 in Dnipro, May 9-12 in Chernivtsi, and May 16-19 in Lviv. The screening program includes 4 films of different genres: from a sports drama to a folklore horror film.
The CFC Big Ideas team assisted in coordinating the festival alongside the grand opening of the film week in Kyiv.
