November 21, 18:30
Zhovten Cinema, Hegemon hall
Konstantinovskaya St, 26
SUNNY BUNNY is the first Ukrainian LGBTQIA+ film festival which took place in Kyiv on June 22-28, 2023. Despite being a first, it's not a new event: SUNNY BUNNY had been part of Ukraine's oldest (since 1970) film festival, Kyiv IFF Molodist, for over two decades, since its inception in 2001, representing international queer cinema. Now, having expanded into an event of its own, the festival pays special attention to Ukrainian queer films. This collection of Ukrainian shorts of 2022-2023 is a mix of stories before and after russia's full-scale invasion. It's a rough and unrefined model of the life of queer people in this defining time. It's stories of acceptance in a variety of manifestations.
Screening duration: 82 min
Curated by Богдан Жук
Trigger and content warnings: air raid alert, nudity, russian language
The films are screened in OV with Ukrainian and English subtitles
IT'S A DATE
Nadia Parfan
Ukraine / 2023, 5 min
This is a story about the capital of the country in which a full-scale war is taking place, but life in all its manifestations does not stop. The film itself looks like a high-speed drive through Kyiv at dawn, shot in one shot. In the finale, when the car stops, we see a figure of a female driver in camouflage for the first time. She gets out and hugs a woman in civilian clothes. It's a date.
HE. SHE
Yana Kyrychenko
Ukraine / 2022, 7 min
The main character — drag virgin Artem — shows two of his lives: the ordinary life of a boy who tells his story and enchanting shows on the stage of a virgin with an unusual name, the letter B. It is a documentary about drag culture, freedom, extravagance, equality, and choice.
I AM MICHELLE
Olena Siyatovska
Ukraine / 2022, 20 min
A young transgender girl dreams of becoming a model, and through popularity in social media resists the loneliness that takes her over. During the trip to her birthplace, she understands what is her true desire.
SIMEIZ
Anton Shebetko
Ukraine / 2022, 17 min
Simeiz is a small village on the southern coast of Crimea, temporarily occupied by Russia. In the Soviet era, an underground gay resort arose in the village. It started with a small nudist beach; a popular bar and a night club, Hedgehogs, appeared later in independent Ukraine.
ROOMMATE
Ievgen Slupchuk
Ukraine / 2023, 10 min
Max and Artem are roommates. Artem was expelled from the university, and he is going home tomorrow. Will the last word be said, and does it make sense?
BEFORE CURFEW
Anzhelika Ustymenko
Ukraine / 2023, 23 min
Two queer people meet on the train and spontaneously decide to get out in Kyiv and spend the day together.
They hear explosions while talking about intimacy and tenderness. They share thoughts about living in this cruel reality. They share their pain.
Their youth was stolen from them. Can they still feel something other than pain?