Two Ukrainian films will be shown in the International Competition at the Sheffield DocFest Documentary Film Festival — Cuba&Alaska and Shards of Light.
The programme has been published on the festival's website.
Sheffield DocFest is the largest documentary film festival in the UK. Since its founding in 1994, it has become the third largest in the world, and the BBC has called it "one of the leading showcases of documentary cinema." The festival includes film screenings, interactive exhibitions, discussions, live events, and its own awards ceremony.
In 2025, the festival will run from June 18 to 23. A total of 116 films will be shown, including 82 feature films and 34 short films from 68 countries.
Two Ukrainian films will participate in the international competition:
Cuba&Alaska, directed by Yegor Troyanovsky
This documentary tells the story of two Ukrainian paramedics, Cuba and Alaska. They are close friends who live out a story typical of many soldiers: the longer they are at the front, the more their connection to friends, family, and their pre-war lives fades.
The film raises the question: when the war is so deeply embedded in their being, will these defenders be able to return to their former, carefree life?
Filming took place between 2022 and 2024, and almost every location captured in the film is now either occupied by Russians or destroyed.
Shards of Light, directed by Mila Teshaieva and Markus Lenz
The film's description on the festival's website states that the story unfolds around the Ukrainian city of Bucha, which was occupied by Russian forces at the beginning of the Russian invasion in 2022. Now, years after its liberation, war crimes continue to haunt the residents.
However, they unite with determination to continue living. Children return to school, widows rebuild their homes, and new couples decide to start families, even as soldiers return to the front.
The film explores the complexities of life in a society deeply traumatized by war, where divisions grow over time.
