For the third year, the SUNNY BUNNY Film Festival is hosting a pitching session for Ukrainian short films featuring LGBTQIA+ themes. The event is supported by sponsors Jägermeister and the Ukrainian-Danish Youth House.
The winning project will be awarded 100,000 UAH — the prize fund has been increased for the 2026 edition.
Ten LGBTQIA+ stories have been selected to participate in this year’s pitching session:
-«Explosion» — director and screenwriter Vadym Mochalov («Giant», «Story»), producer Diana Nazaruk («Giant», «Story»).
-«Icarus in the Shadows» — director and screenwriter Novruz Hikmet. Producers: Novruz Hikmet and Valeriia Sochyvets. Co-producer: Julian Herzog. Production: CUС (Contemporary Ukrainian Cinema)/Plotlessfilm (Germany).
- «Badem Terek» — director and author of the idea Katia Rybka, producer Zlata Yefimenko. Production: EF PICTURES.
- «Flower Mind» — director Vladyslav Hryban. Production: Flixpix studio.
- «August» — director and screenwriter Hanna Mieshkova.
- «Table with One Empty Seat» — director and author Svitlana Rudiuk, producer Olena Shatseva, creative producer Maksym Rudiuk. \
- «The Day Has Come» — director Yevhen Tunik, producer Regina Maryanovska-Davidzon. Production: Real Pictures.
- «GPS» — director Kateryna Paida, executive producer Diana Nazaruk. Production: Paida Production.
- «Performing body» — director and screenwriter Yevheniia Tsatsenko, producer Yevheniia Tsatsenko. Production: Lviv Film Hub.
- «The Loop» — director Serhii Mysak, producers: Oleksii Zhonik, Kateryna Skrynska. Production: DGTL RLGN.
Pitching Jury:
- Alik Shpyliuk — film scholar, Art Director of the Ukrainian Film Academy, programming consultant for the Odesa International Film Festival. Member of the State Council for Cinema Support. Member of the European Film Academy, FIPRESCI, and the National Union of Cinematographers of Ukraine. Merited Culture Worker of Ukraine, Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters of France.
- Nadiia Parfan — film director, creative producer, and cultural activist from Kyiv. Co-founder of the «86» International Festival of Film and Urbanism in Slavutych (2014–2018), founder and curator of the «Takflix.com» online cinema. Member of the Ukrainian Film Academy, the The Documentary Film Association of Ukraine, Ukrainian Association of Cinematographers, and the Film Independent network.
- Anna Melikova — screenwriter, author, and film curator. Born in Crimea, based in Berlin. Member of the selection committees for Berlinale Panorama and Kasseler Dokfest. As a screenwriter, she co-created the film «Grand Jeté» with her wife, German director Isabelle Stever (Berlinale 2022). Their next project called «I Rarely Wake Up Dreaming» was filmed in Ukraine in 2025. Anna’s debut novel, published in German, earned a nomination for the HKW International Prize 2025 and is currently awaiting publication in Ukrainian.
The pitching session takes place on April 23 at 16:00.
Location: Ukrainian-Danish Youth House (5-B Volodymyrska St)
Admission is free with prior registration. Even without a festival participant badge, you are welcomed to attend the pitching and support the filmmakers.
Sign up here.
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