27 May 2026 – 24 July 2026
Status: Sold Out
Thank you to everyone who joined us this year! Follow us on social media
for upcoming screenings, events, and news about UFFA 2027.
The inaugural Ukrainian Film Festival Australia took place in 2026, bringing contemporary Ukrainian cinema to audiences across Australia.
Across the festival, we screened 9 films in 6 Australian cities and welcomed thousands of people through cinema doors. The response exceeded our expectations, with strong ticket sales, enthusiastic audiences, sold-out and well-attended sessions, and conversations continuing well beyond the screenings themselves.
Our goal was to introduce Australian audiences to modern Ukrainian cinema and to show the many different aspects of Ukrainian life represented on screen. Through stories of identity, resilience, creativity and human connection, the programme offered a broader and more personal view of Ukraine and its people.
The festival attracted a diverse audience, including film lovers, arts patrons, professionals, students, members of the Ukrainian Australian community and people from many other cultural backgrounds. One of the most rewarding parts of the festival was seeing that these films resonated far beyond the Ukrainian community. You did not need to be of Ukrainian heritage or have extensive knowledge of cinema to connect with them — the stories spoke through the universal language of film.
The 2026 festival built on the work of our team members, who had previously organised screenings including Kherson, Human Safari in Melbourne, Uki Movie Club, Christmas Express, Okean Elzy: Stormwatch and Mavka. The Real Myth in Sydney.
The festival was presented by the Ukrainian Arts Council of the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations (AFUO) in partnership with the Embassy of Ukraine in Australia, with support from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Australia, and in partnership with the Ukrainian Council of NSW, the Association of Ukrainians in Victoria, the Ukrainian Community of Queensland and the Association of Ukrainians in South Australia.
We are incredibly grateful to everyone who attended, supported, promoted and helped deliver the inaugural festival. UFFA 2026 showed that there is a strong audience for Ukrainian cinema in Australia, and we look forward to building on that success.
For those wishing to continue supporting Ukraine, UFFA proudly directs donations to the AFUO Future Ukraine and Defend Ukraine appeals.
Slovo House is a story about a generation of Ukrainian artists persecuted by the totalitarian system, unfolding against the backdrop of one of the largest genocides of the 20th century – the Holodomor.
Leaving their civilian lives behind, two young Ukrainian women enrol in the army as military paramedics. There they find violence, pain and sadness, but also friendship, love and dreams of a life without war. Both Alaska and Cuba volunteered for military service and work as partners in the same unit, serving in the middle of the war-torn, desolate East Ukraine. Despite being very different, they became close friends. Director Yegor Troyanovsky filmed their lives since the summer of 2022, capturing both moments of respite and joy during rotations and the stark horrors of war, where battles against death and the loss of comrades cast long shadows.
Keeping schools open in Ukraine is an attempt to recreate at least some of the normal life they had before the war — until February 24, 2022 (and in some regions even earlier, in 2014). Without interviews, narration and reenactments, TIMESTAMP provides an insight into how the war is affecting the daily lives of students and teachers. The film has a mosaic-like structure: it explores how a school functions in-person and online in these terrible times, both on and off the frontline, how day-to-day life is intertwined with constant danger.
Amid violence and war, Ukrainian citizens are coming together to rescue animals that have been left behind by those forced to flee. From cats and dogs in abandoned buildings to lions and tigers in the nation’s zoos, extraordinary rescue efforts are underway to bring them to safety. The film is a tribute to the very best of the human spirit despite the horrors of war. Directed by Ukrainian YouTuber Anton Ptushkin.
Amidst the maelstrom of war in Ukraine, three drag queens -Diva Monroe, Marlene, and Aura- refuse to abandon their homeland. Instead of fleeing, they choose to fight: for freedom, the LGBTQ+ community, and their very existence. From the glamour of the show to the brutality of war, the film follows their lives – filled with loss, fear, as well as indomitable courage. Marlen grapples with old wounds, Diva Monroe finds herself once more, and Aura fights for a place both in the army and onto the stage. A charity drag show they organize to support Ukraine turns into a symbol of unity and resilience. The film is a story of self-discovery, love, hope, and the power to find joy even in the darkest of times.
At a decaying Soviet-era health resort near Odesa, visitors seek wellness through unconventional treatments, from mud baths to electric therapy, while pursuing personal connections during a quiet summer season.
A Ukrainian platoon’s mission: traverse a heavily fortified mile of forest to liberate a strategic village from Russian forces. A journalist accompanies them, witnessing the ravages of war and the growing uncertainty about its conclusion.
After Stalin ordered the forced collectivisation of all the farms in 1930s Ukraine, Maxim, a humble cucumber farmer, rebels. He is arrested by local authorities and shipped off to forced labour camps of Siberia. In a bid to survive and return to his family, he steals away in the dead of night and begins the 1,000km journey home. * Melbourne & Sydney only
Under roaring fighter jets, Ukrainian artists Slava, Anya, and Andrey choose to stay behind. Defiantly finding beauty amid destruction, they show that although it’s easy to make people afraid, it’s hard to destroy their passion for living.
After Earth explodes, Ukrainian space trucker Andriy Melnyk becomes the last person in the universe until he receives a call from Catherine, a French woman on a distant space station. Despite the obstacles, Andriy decides to find her.
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