Ukrainian film wins top award at Strasbourg Film Festival

The Ukrainian film U Are the Universe, directed by Pavlo Ostrikov, won several awards at the Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival on 28 September.

Source: Ukrainian State Film Agency

Details: "The film received the festival's main award, the Golden Octopus, as well as the Silver Melies award, which paves the way for the competition for the most prestigious European genre film award, the Golden Melies!

We congratulate the film crew on their victory and wish them new achievements!" the statement reads.

The feature film U Are the Universe was a debut for director and screenwriter Pavlo Ostrikov. The artist has previously created a number of short films, including Golden Love, Graduation '97, and Mia Donna.

Work on the film began in 2015. In total, its creation lasted seven years and was completed in 2023.

Five residential modules and parts of the spaceship's exterior were specially built for the filming. The team also developed an animatronic robot that moved independently in the frame.

It took about two months to assemble the sets for the movie.

"This film was created against all odds: from the scale of the idea to the challenges of today. It seemed absolutely unrealistic to create a real Ukrainian Sci-Fi with a small budget.

All the production labs told me about this. But we persevered and created the impossible," said Volodymyr Yatsenko, the film's producer and a serviceman.

What is U Are the Universe about?

The film tells the story of Ukrainian trucker Andrii Melnyk, played by actor and serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Volodymyr Kravchuk.

After the Earth explodes, the film's protagonist seems to be the only person left in the universe. Later it turns out that this is not the case, as Andrii manages to establish a connection with a French woman, Catherine.

"At the very heart of this story is loneliness and our desire to find someone who might need us. Even if it means crossing the entire galaxy. These are the eternal themes that will always be relevant, especially in dark times," said the film's creators.

The world premiere of the film took place on 7 September at the Toronto International Film Festival.

U Are the Universe has won a number of other awards, including the First Cut Lab Award in the Ukrainian Films Now programme at the Marché du Film film market in Cannes.

In addition, the film's creators were awarded a grant from the Ukrainian Film Academy in partnership with Netflix and the European Solidarity Fund for Ukrainian Films (ESFUF).

The film will be released in Ukraine in spring 2025.

The Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival is the main French platform for fantasy films and one of the largest genre events in Europe, founded in 2008.

The annual festival focuses on new science fiction films. At the same time, it has separate sections for thrillers, noir films and black comedies, as well as for video games and virtual reality cinema.

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