Molodist Kyiv International Film Festival

Molodist is one of the greatest specialized cinema events in Eastern Europe according to the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF).

The main objective of the festival is to promote young professional cinema. Competitive program represents movies of debutants and Ukrainian short movies. Main sections comprise student films, first short films (fiction, animation, documentary), first feature films, and national competition.

The Film Festival was established in 1970 as a two-day viewing of students’ short films of Kyiv State Theatrical Art Institute. Some of the greatest Ukrainian movies were also shown (in 1979 “Babylon XX” by Ivan Mykolaychuk won the main festival prize). Since the 1980’s, Ukrainians have seen the works of debutant directors from Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia and Russia; the times of ‘Perestroika’ had been the era of filmmakers from the Baltic States, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Germany. Since 1990 Molodist is the only film festival in Ukraine accredited by FIAPF.

The first steps towards the big cinema with Molodist were made by such well-known directors as Fred Kelemen, Tom Tykwer, François Ozon, Andras Monori, Danny Boyle, and Stephen Daldry. Molodist participants won Golden Palm at Cannes Film Festival (Bruno Dumont) and Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film (Alain Berliner).

Geography of contest entries includes countries from almost all the continents.

The festival used to take place on the last week of October. In 2017 Molodist Kyiv International Film Festival announced new annual festival dates. Festival will take place in the last week of may. This decision was agreed by the festival management and the International Federation of Film Producers Associations FIAPF. We were discussing the matter with the international film community for over a year. Since the festival is accredited by FIAPF, it was necessary for every member of the federation to approve the new festival dates. May brings us extra options for the festival events, now we can use open-air locations for the screenings and festival events.

Molodist 48 will take place on May 25 – June 2, 2019.