Three Ukrainian short films make European Film Awards 2027 shortlist
The European Film Academy will announce the nominees' names on November 14. The European Film Awards 2027 ceremony is scheduled for January 16, 2027.
The documentary "Open World" tells the story of a young man who, several years after fleeing Ukraine due to the Russian invasion, attempts to return home to Zaporizhzhia. To do this, he uses a robotic dog controlled from his room in Poland.
Photo source: Ukrainian Film Academy
With the robot's help, the young man relives memories and reconnects with his homeland. As the directors explain, the robot—which Ukrainian soldiers developed for reconnaissance missions—becomes the protagonist's personal avatar in the film.
"Open World" previously won the top prize at the Lviv International Short Film Festival Wiz-Art.
Co-produced by Ukraine and Estonia, the animated short "Kyiv Cake" depicts a Ukrainian family navigating a crisis following the birth of a child.
The film has already received the Grand Prix in the national competition of the Kyiv International Short Film Festival (KISFF). In 2025, the film also won best animated film at the "Kinokolo" national film critics award.
Co-produced by Ukraine and France, the fiction short "Easter Day" takes place in Kyiv on Easter Sunday. Two military officers from the territorial center of recruitment and social support meet a man who left home to buy cat food.
The plot relies on the real-life story of screenwriter Illia Volynets-Tryfonov's friend. Military personnel stopped the man to check his military registration documents, but he worried about his cat left at home without food.
The soldiers agreed to drive with him to the store before bringing him to the military unit.
2Brave Productions and French outfit Cinephage Productions jointly produced the film. The film held its world premiere at the Riga International Film Festival.
"Easter Day" has already won several awards, including:
Additionally, the film received the French National Assembly Award for best political short film.
Background
It should be noted that the Ukrainian Oscar Committee selected the documentary "Traces," directed by Alisa Kovalenko and co-directed by Marysia Nikitiuk, as Ukraine's official entry for the 99th Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category.
It was also reported that the "Neighbors Film Festival," held for the fifth time in Uzhhorod this summer, made the shortlist for the Art Explora – Académie des beaux-arts European Award 2026—a European prize honoring cultural projects that find new ways to engage audiences and increase access to culture.
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11 of October 2026
