Ukraine
This week we present films from and about Ukraine including documentaries and narrative features about key moments in the nation’s recent past and in its relationship to Russia. Servant of the People is a series created by and starring the country’s current president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a former comedian.
Bad Roads
(Погані дороги)
An anthology of four short stories, all set on the roads of Ukraine during the war in the Donbas.
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- Ukraine • 2021
- Director Natalya Vorozhbit
- Cast Ihor Koltovskyi, Andrey Lelyukh, Anna Zhurakovskaya, Yuliya Matrosova, Oksana Cherkashyna
- Genre Drama
- Available on Film Movement Plus, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
Donbass
(Донбас)
In the Donbass, war is called peace, propaganda is presented as truth, and hatred is declared to be love.
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- Germany, Ukraine, France • 2018
- Director Sergey Loznitsa
- Cast Valeriu Andriuță, Irina Plesnyaeva, Evgeny Chistyakov, Georgiy Deliev, Vadim Dubovsky
- Genre Drama
- Available on Film Movement Plus, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
No Obvious Signs
(Явних проявiв немає)
A woman returning from service during the war in Donbas struggles with PTSD and tries to reclaim her normal life.
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- Ukraine • 2018
- Director Alina Gorlova
- Cast
- Genre Documentary
- Available on GuideDoc, DocAlliance Films, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Takflix, Kanopy
Breaking Point: The War for Democracy in Ukraine
This nerve-racking documentary follows the citizens of Ukraine who have given up their lives to fight an insidious Russian invasion.
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- Ukraine, United States • 2017
- Director Mark Jonathan Harris, Oles Sanin
- Cast
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube
Chervonyi
(Червоний)
In 1947, Ukrainian commander Chervonyi is captured and put in Stalin's camps, but his fight for freedom rages on.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Ukraine • 2017
- Director Zaza Buadze
- Cast Mykola Bereza, Ihor Koltovskyi, Alexandr Mavrits, Oleh Shulha, Lubov Tyshchenko
- Genre Drama, History
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Tubi TV, Freevee
Falling
(Стрімголов)
Two bewildered young Ukrainians meet at a crucial moment of their existence and experience a few days of happiness together.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Ukraine • 2017
- Director Marina Stepanska
- Cast Darya Plakhtiy, Andrii Seletskyi, Oleh Mosiichuk, Larysa Rusnak, Christian Boris
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Servant of the People
(Слуга народу)
After a viral video of him circulates, a humble teacher becomes president of Ukraine overnight.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Ukraine • 2015
- Creator Volodymyr Zelenskyy
- Cast Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Stanislav Boklan, Yevgeniy Koshevoy, Natalia Sumska, Victor Saraykin, Elena Kravets
- Genre Comedy
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads
The Russian Woodpecker
As his country is gripped by revolution, a Ukrainian victim of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster discovers a dark secret.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States • 2015
- Director Chad Gracia
- Cast Fedor Alexandrovich, Andrei Alexandrovich, Igor Alexandrovich, Natalia Barabovskaya, Andrei Bilyk
- Genre Documentary, History
- Available on fuboTV, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Hoopla, Plex Channel
Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom
In Ukraine, student demonstrations supporting European integration grew into a violent revolution calling for the resignation of President Viktor F. Yanukovich.
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- United Kingdom, Ukraine, United States • 2015
- Director Evgeny Afineevsky
- Cast Cissy Jones, Bishop Agapit, Catherine Ashton, Serhii Averchenko, Kristina Berdinskikh, Pavlo Dobryanskyy
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Netflix, Netflix basic with Ads
All Things Ablaze
(Все палає)
What does the violent heart of revolution feel like? Witnessing from the middle of the fire in Ukraine, winter 2013-2014.
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- Ukraine • 2014
- Director Oleksandr Techynskyi, Aleksey Solodunov, Dmitry Stoykov
- Cast
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube
Maidan
(Майдан)
A revealing documentary about the civil uprising against former Ukranian president Viktor Yanukovych in 2013 into 2014.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Ukraine, Netherlands • 2014
- Director Sergey Loznitsa
- Cast
- Genre Documentary
- Available on DocAlliance Films, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, YouTube, Kanopy
The Tribe
(Плем'я)
Love and hate need no translation.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Ukraine, Netherlands • 2014
- Director Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi
- Cast Hryhoriy Fesenko, Yana Novikova, Rosa Babiy, Oleksandr Dsiadevych, Oleksandr Osadchyi, Yaroslav Biletskiy
- Genre Crime, Drama
- Available on Peacock Premium, Peacock Premium Plus, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, YouTube, Tubi TV, Kanopy, Hoopla