The Odessa Film Festival has been criticized for holding its third edition in Kyiv

The Odessa International Film Festival has been criticized on social media for not returning to Odessa. In response, the OIFF has begun to defend itself.

Antonina from “Detector Media” reports on this.

This year’s 17th Odessa International Film Festival will take place in Kyiv from August 27 to September 4. This is the third time the festival has been held in the capital, although it retains its name and identifies Odessa as its home city.

After the festival’s page appeared on Threads, users began actively discussing this decision. In the comments, people are asking why the event has not yet returned to Odessa.

Some commenters believe that the argument regarding Kyiv’s safety is no longer convincing.

<picture></picture>Screenshot from the Odessa Film Festival’s Threads page. Photo: Antonina

“Yes, they’ve been holding it there since 2022. It’s more dangerous there now than in Odessa, but they’re holding it anyway… and even making excuses,” users write on Threads.

Other users suggest that the festival change its name if it is no longer held in Odessa.

<picture></picture>Screenshot from the Odessa Film Festival’s page on Threads. Photo: Antonina

In response to the criticism, festival representatives explained that the choice of Kyiv was primarily due to logistical reasons. According to them, the capital has become a necessary venue for the event, allowing the festival to continue its work, support Ukrainian cinema, and present it to an international audience.

At the same time, the organizers emphasize that the festival retains its name, history, and identity, and that Odessa remains its home.

The discussion on social media has essentially boiled down to the question of whether the Odessa International Film Festival can still be considered “Odessa’s” if it is held in Kyiv for the third consecutive year.

It is worth noting that Kyiv, not Odessa, will host the 17th Odessa International Film Festival for the third consecutive year. Previously, the organizers attributed the relocation to the security situation and the consequences of the full-scale war.

Odessa is regularly subjected to missile and drone attacks, so the organizers consider it unsafe to hold a large-scale event with international guests in the city. At the same time, Kyiv also regularly faces massive attacks, including those involving ballistic missiles.

During the most recent massive combined strikes on the capital (specifically on the nights of August 5 and 8, 2026), ballistic missiles struck the city; these could not be intercepted due to their high speed and the limited capabilities of existing air defense systems. The Air Force and city authorities have confirmed damage and casualties in the capital.

This year, 14 Ukrainian feature-length films have been included in the OIFF’s national competition program. Among them are four fiction films and ten documentaries dedicated to the experience of war, human resilience, and the search for hope for the future.

The festival program will also feature an international competition, out-of-competition screenings, and the Film Industry Office section, where new film projects will be presented and discussed.

Ірина Глухова