A film festival featuring war documentaries has kicked off in Odesa

The Military Film Week has begun in Odesa on the grounds of the Odesa Film Studio. Over the course of four days, viewers will be shown about 15 films and reports shot directly by service members from various units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

An Intenta correspondent attended the event. 

The film festival focuses on the real-life stories of defenders, told by them personally without myths or artistic embellishments. The footage highlights the work of command centers, daily life at stabilization points, the work of FPV drone operators, and the complex evacuations of the wounded from the battlefield.

“Military Film Week aims to show the war as the military themselves see it. There are no myths or fabrications here; everything is real—the stories, the difficult transformations, the pain, love, friendship, loss, and life,” notes the project’s founder, Anastasia Simonova.

The festival program also includes a screening of the documentary “Militantropus” by the TABOR creative collective, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.

In addition to the film screenings, the project features the opening of the exhibition “Transitional State” by the late soldier and photographer Kostyantyn Guzenko. It offers visitors a visual reflection on war through the lens of the personal experience of someone who was right at the epicenter of the events.

The film festival is an entirely charitable initiative. Admission is free with advance registration. 

Program for the “Odessa War Film Week 2026” festival:

Day 1 (October 15)
• 4:00 p.m. — Festival Opening
• 4:10 p.m. — “Unit from Scratch” (directed by Vadym Ilkov, 39th Marine Brigade, 50 min)
• 5:15 p.m. — “Tikhon” (directed by Volodymyr Palylyk, 9 min)
• 5:24 p.m. — “Tsom-Tsom” (directed by Igor Zakharenko and Vladislav Galinsky, 65th Marine Brigade, 7 min)
• 5:31 p.m. — “Dobby” (directed by Yevhen Rozenyuk, “Pomsta” Brigade, 14 min)
• 5:55 p.m. — “Genie in the Air” (directed by Serhiy Lysenko, 36th Marine Brigade, 66 min)

Day 2 (October 16)
• 4:00 PM — “Oh, the Wild Geese Were Flying… South” (Creative Group, 1st Dmytro Kotsyubailo Military School, 52 min)
• 5:10 p.m. — “I Am Not a Hero” (directed by Denys Hranchak, 39th Marine Brigade, 15 min)
• 5:25 p.m. — “Vampires: The Art of Destroying the Enemy” (directed by Vadym Bulik, 95th Separate Marine Brigade, 23 min)
• 5:48 p.m. — “The Number” (directed by Oleksandr Poluev, 35th Marine Brigade)

Day 3 (October 17)
• 4:00 p.m. — “Owl” (directed by Vadym Ilkov, 39th Marine Brigade, 38 min)
• 4:38 p.m. — “(NOT) Lonely” (directed by Oleg Arkhangorodsky, Kirill Sharov, “Rubizh” crew, 18 min)
• 5:15 p.m. — “Militanthropos” (directors: Elizaveta Smith, Alina Gorlova, Simon Mozgovoy, 111 min)

Day 4 (October 18)
• 3:00 p.m. — “Battle for Life” (directed by Vadym Bulik, 95th Airborne Brigade, 26 min)
• 3:40 p.m. — “Don’t Ask Me If I Killed” (directed by Olena Maksom, 104 min)

Юлія Калабайда