The Sixth Ukrainian National Film Critics Award "Kinokolo" Announces its Winners
The second ceremony since the start of the full-scale war was held in Kyiv to award cinematographers and honour fallen filmmakers on behalf of the Ukrainian film critics' community.
Despite the war, the Sixth National Film Critics Award "Kinokolo" ceremony was held in Ukraine on the 12th of October. The event was broadcast on the national public TV channel Suspilne Kultura.
Before presenting the award, the organisers honoured the memory of the cinematographers who died in the war against Russia: actors Pavlo Lee, Anton Prasolenko, Yevhen Svitlychny, Philip Viner, Oleh Zaitsev, stuntman and actor Volodymyr Strokan, stuntman, stunt director and actor Denys Bondarev, directors Mantas Kvedaravicius and Oleh Bobal, teacher, screenwriter and director Mykyta Kalambet, director and writer Dmytro Kravets, pyrotechnic stunt director Oleksandr Suvorov, editing director Viktor Onysko, set designer Volodymyr Chornyi, location manager Vasyl Dovhan, art director Andrii Tkhoruk, production designer Timofii Boiko, journalist and cultural observer Yevhen Osievskii.
Ukrainian film critics recognised La Palisiada by Philip Sotnychenko as the Best Feature Film—this post-Soviet noir premiered at the Rotterdam International Film Festival. The film tells the story of two old friends, a police detective and a forensic psychiatrist, who investigate the murder of their colleague five months before the moratorium on the death penalty in Ukraine.
The team of Luxembourg, Luxembourg received the most significant number of Kinokolo awards this year: Antonio Lukich won Best Director and Screenplay Writer Awards, and Amil Nasirov was recognised as the Best Actor.
Ukrainian entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 2024 Oscars 20 Days in Mariupol by Mstyslav Chernov was recognised as the Best Documentary and the Discovery of the Year (for the best full-length debut).
The film Golden Leggings by Arkadii Nepytaliuk won a Best Short Feature Film nomination. The award for Best Animated Film went to Mariupol—a Hundred Nights, directed by Sofia Melnyk. Karyna Khymchuk was declared the Best Actress for her role in the film Do You Love Me?. Stanislav Bytiutskyi, Alioona Penzii, Oleksandr Teliuk, Oleh Olifer and Olena Honcharuk from the Dovzhenko-Center team received the Award For Achievements for the lecture "How to stop worrying and Fall in Love with Ukrainian Cinema".
A Special Award was received by film critics who stood up for the defence of Ukraine: Anton Filatov, Yaroslav Pidhora-Hviazdovskyi, Yurii Samusenko and Artur Kornienko.
The National Award of Film Critics "Kinokolo" was established in 2018 as an annual award to recognise the achievements of Ukrainian cinematography and film industry figures over the past year on behalf of Ukraine's film critics' community. In previous years, Pamfir, Stop-Zemlia, Atlantis and Homeward were named the best films of the year.
The award ceremony was held live on the Suspilne Kultura TV channel. According to the tradition, it took place on the day of the opening of the Kyiv Critics’ Week, which lasts up to the 18th of October.
List of prize winners:
The Best Feature Film
La Palisiada, director: Philip Sotnychenko, production: Valeriia Sochyvets, Sashko Chubko, Halyna Kryvorchuk.
The Best Short Feature Film
Golden Leggings, director: Arkadii Nepytaliuk, production: Anastasiia Bukovska, Danylo Kaptiukh, Mykyta Bukovskyi.
The Best Documentary
20 Days in Mariupol, director: Mstyslav Chernov, production: Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner, Raney Aronson, Derl McCrudden, Lindsey Schneider, Vasylysa Stepanenko.
The Best Animated Film
Mariupol. A Hundred Nights, director: Sofia Melnyk, production: Andrii Palatnyi.
Discovery of the Year
20 Days in Mariupol, director: Mstyslav Chernov, production: Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner, Raney Aronson, Derl McCrudden, Lindsey Schneider, Vasylysa Stepanenko.
The Best Director/Directress
Antonio Lukich — Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
The Best Actor
Amil Nasirov — Luxembourg, Luxembourg, director: Antonio Lukich.
The Best Actress
Karyna Khymchuk — Do you love me?, director: Tonia Noiabrova.
The Best Screenplay (full-length and short fiction films)
Antonio Lukich — Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
For Achievements (to Ukrainian authors of works about Ukrainian or foreign cinema, as well as to international authors of works on Ukrainian cinema — to film critics, film historians, journalists, curators, bloggers, etc.).
Stanislav Bytiutskyi, Alioona Penzii, Oleksandr Teliuk, Oleh Olifer and Olena Honcharuk for the lecture "How to Stop Worrying and Fall in Love with Ukrainian Cinema".
Special awards
Anton Filatov, Yaroslav Pidhora-Hviazdovskyi, Yurii Samusenko and Artur Kornienko.