Ukrainian Film Club in Estonia

The Ukrainian Film Club in Estonia is a project of UKRAINA MEEDIA DRUZI MTÜ, supported by the Association of Ukrainian Organisations in Estonia and the Embassy of Ukraine in Estonia. The club has been active since February 2023.

The film club is headed by Inna Hordiienko, who initiated its creation.

The film club promotes Ukrainian cinema, helps Ukrainians in Estonia stay connected with their homeland and creates space for cultural dialogue between Ukraine and Estonia.

The club’s programme includes feature, documentary, historical and animated films, meetings with directors, actors and producers, themed discussions and special cultural events.

Since its founding, the Ukrainian Film Club has held dozens of screenings in Tallinn and other Estonian towns, including Tartu, Narva, Pärnu, Valga, Sillamäe, Paide, Kohtla-Järve, Saku, Kuressaare and Võru.

The club’s main venue in Tallinn is Kino Sõprus. Screenings have also taken place at Elektriteater in Tartu, Narva Central Library, the Endla Theatre in Pärnu and other cultural venues across the country.

Many events have been dedicated to Ukraine’s Independence Day, the Day of Ukrainian Cinema, the Day of Ukrainian Unity, the anniversaries of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and other dates important to the Ukrainian people.

In 2024, during Estonia’s Year of Cultural Diversity, the club launched a separate strand of cultural exchange between the two countries.

Ukrainian films began to be shown with Estonian subtitles, making Ukrainian cinema more accessible to Estonian audiences. Among them were “The Slovo House. Unfinished Novel”, “Culture vs War”, “Black Raven” and “Long Day”.

At the same time, a programme introducing Estonian cinema to the Ukrainian community was launched. Estonian films were shown with Ukrainian subtitles, helping Ukrainians to learn more about Estonia’s history, culture, traditions and society.

Seven Estonian films were selected for the programme:

“Seltsimees laps” (The Little Comrade);
“Nimed marmortahvlil” (Names in Marble);
“1944”;
“Savvusanna sõsarad” (Smoke Sauna Sisterhood);
“November”;
“Kratt”;
“Elavad pildid” (Moving Pictures).
The partner of this strand was Kino Sõprus, one of Estonia’s best-known historic cinemas.

Guests and speakers have included US Ambassador to Estonia George Peter Kent, Estonian Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur, Estonian Minister of Social Protection Signe Riisalo, Member of the Riigikogu Marko Mihkelson, PÖFF director Tiina Lokk and Vaba Ukraina co-founder Andrus Rumm.

The club has also been visited by producer Oleh Shcherbyna, actors and directors Viktor Andriienko and Akhtem Seitablaiev, director and producer Pylyp Illienko, musician Oleh Skrypka, sculptor and artist Tauno Kangro, Ukrainian artist Dmytro Dobrovolskyi and other cultural figures.

Meetings with guests give viewers the chance not only to watch a film but also to talk with its creators, discuss the historical context and better understand the film’s themes.

In 2023, the club ran a separate children’s strand. Within it, young viewers and their parents were shown Ukrainian feature and animated films.

Screenings were held at weekends in various Estonian towns, so that Ukrainian children had more opportunities to hear their native language, get to know Ukrainian heroes and stay connected with their culture.

The children’s film club also became a meeting place for Ukrainian families, where children who had ended up far from Ukrainebecause of the war could talk and make friends.

Days of Estonian Cinema in Ukraine

In September 2025, the cultural exchange continued in Ukraine: the Kyiv cinema “Zhovten” hosted the first “Days of Estonian Cinema in Ukraine”.

Ukrainian audiences were shown five Estonian films from different years with Ukrainian subtitles.

The project was an important step in cultural cooperation between Ukraine and Estonia and a continuation of the work that the Ukrainian Film Club started in Estonia.

Cooperation with PÖFF

In 2024 and 2025, the Ukrainian Film Club helped promote the Ukrainian programme Standing with Ukraine at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF).

In November 2025, Tallinn hosted the international event “Yellow-Blue Butterflies”, dedicated to Ukrainian children affected by the war, including children illegally deported by russia from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

The event’s patron was the First Lady of Estonia, Sirje Karis.

The programme included the premiere of the multimedia short film “Yellow-Blue Butterflies”, dance and music performances, an art programme supporting children, and a campaign of writing letters and wishes to illegally deported Ukrainian children.

The event showed how film and art can draw international attention to the consequences of war and support children who have lived through traumatic experiences.

Expanding the international programme

In 2026, the club for the first time presented a film made outside Ukraine and Estonia – the British-Italian feature “Across the River and Into the Trees”, 2022, based on Ernest Hemingway’s novel of the same name.

Ukrainian subtitles were prepared for the screening. Producers Robert MacLean and Lucas Paletta , founders of the international independent media company Tribune Pictures, came to Tallinn to present the film. Actor Liev Schreiber recorded a special video message for the club’s audience.

This screening was a new step in the club’s development into an international platform for socially important cinema and for conversations about the memory of war, human dignity, psychological trauma and soldiers’ return to civilian life.

The film club today: 2025–2026

The club focuses on contemporary Ukrainian cinema. Most screenings are held with English subtitles, so that the films can be enjoyed not only by Ukrainians but also by Estonian friends and an international audience.

2025. Audiences saw the post-documentary film “My War and Me”, presented in person by director Roman Sadovskyi; the documentary project “Zhytomyr Region in Struggle: 1000 Days of the Great War” on the third anniversary of the full-scale invasion; a pre-premiere screening of the documentary “Real” with a music programme; the historical film “Yaroslav the Wise – Father-in-law of Europe” on Ukraine’s Independence Day as part of the “Culture vs War” marathon; the feature-length documentary “A Simple Soldier”; and Serhii Parajanov’s classic “Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors”. In February 2025, the club celebrated its second anniversary.

In November 2025, the club took part in the “Standing with Ukraine” programme of the 29th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF), organised by the festival together with the State Agency of Ukraine for Cinema. At the same time, the Association’s chairman Volodymyr Palamar met the head of the State Agency, Andrii Osipov, to discuss cooperation in cultural diplomacy and the further development of the film club.

2026. The club screened the science-fiction film “U Are the Universe” in Tallinn on the Day of Ukrainian Unity and later in Tartu together with Kolo Books. In January 2026, lead actor Volodymyr Kravchuk was awarded the title of Honoured Artist of Ukraine. On 28 February – the fourth anniversary of the full-scale invasion and the club’s third anniversary – Yurii Dunai’s film “The Tired” was shown at Kino Sõprus, and “Yellow-Blue Butterflies” was screened in Valga. In June, audiences saw “Across the River and Into the Trees”, and on the eve of the 35th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence, the documentary “Kuzma: Scary Fun”, with a performance by the Ukrainian song and dance ensemble “Volya”. In October 2026, Kino Artis hosted a screening of Yevhen Taller’s new Ukrainian comedy “Relatives”.

The story of “Yellow-Blue Butterflies”, which began in Tallinn in November 2025, continues: a documentary TV film about this international initiative, “Yellow-Blue Butterflies. For Children”, is being made with the support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation.

Selected films of the Ukrainian Film Club

Over the years, the club has presented feature, documentary, historical and animated films, including:

“The Slovo House. Unfinished Novel”;
“Crimea. The Stolen Peninsula”;
“From Ukraine to Hollywood”;
“Shchedryk”;
“Malevich. Born in Ukraine”;
“Toloka”;
“Culture vs War”;
“Myrnyi-21”;
“Terykony” (Spoil Tips);
“Holodomor. The Chroniclers”;
“Dovbush”;
“Eastern Front”;
“The Silent Deportation”;
“Long Day”;
“Black Raven”;
“Mavka. The Forest Song”;
“Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors”;
“Hutsulka Ksenia”;
“20 Days in Mariupol”;
“Da Vinci”;
“You Are the Cosmos”;
“The Tired”;
“Yellow-Blue Butterflies”;
“My War and Me”;
“Zhytomyr Region in Struggle: 1000 Days of the Great War”;
“Real”;
“Yaroslav the Wise – Father-in-law of Europe”;
“A Simple Soldier”;
“Across the River and Into the Trees”;
“Kuzma: Scary Fun”;
“Relatives”.
This is only part of the programme. Full information about past screenings, guests and special events is kept in the Ukrainian Film Club’s archive.

Charity

Most Ukrainian Film Club events are cultural and charitable in nature.

At some screenings, viewers can make voluntary donations in support of the Defence Forces of Ukraine and civilians affected by russia’s war.

The purpose of each collection, the recipients of aid and the results are published in the materials of the relevant event.

Partners and friends of the film club

Over the years, the Ukrainian Film Club has been supported by the Estonian Ministry of Culture, the Integration Foundation (Integratsiooni Sihtasutus), the City of Tallinn, the State Agency of Ukraine for Cinema, the Embassy of Ukraine in Estonia, the Embassy of Estonia in Ukraine, Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival PÖFF, Kino Sõprus, Fresh Production Group, the association “Watch Ukrainian”, Ukrainian film companies, cultural institutions, local governments and Estonian civil society organisations.

We thank all partners, filmmakers, guests, viewers and volunteers who help the Ukrainian Film Club grow.

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