To the Victory!

Frustrated men fumble with tragicomic nihilism through post-war blues, cultural twilight, and broken relationships in an acclaimed slice of life from a future Ukraine.

In the near future, director Roman struggles with his upcoming film project in a country that has emerged from the war but seems fundamentally changed. The women who fled have chosen not to return, and in their absence the men wrestle with everyday life. As Roman fights his way through the nation's stagnating film culture, he also tries to navigate his son's dubious venture in the gig economy and his father’s increasingly bleak view of life. Festival favorite Vasyanovych directs and also plays the lead role as the challenged filmmaker in this moving metafilm about Europe’s new postwar era.

• Annie Karlsson