TUFF 2023 Films
Includes mini-concert prelude by Kyiv Quartet, DakhaBrakha, courtesy Vincent Moon
ALL FILMS HAVE ENGLISH SUBTITLES
THE EARTH IS AS BLUE AS AN ORANGE (2020)
Friday, March 10, 7:00 PM
YouTube trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGILh9uVXi4
IMBD: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11394290/
Directed by Iryna Tsilyk. Winner of 19 international awards including Directing Award at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
Synopsis:
Single mother Anna and her four children live in the front-line war zone of Donbas, Ukraine. While the outside world is made up of bombings and chaos, the family is managing to keep their home a safe haven, full of life and full of light. Every member of the family has a passion for cinema, motivating them to shoot a film inspired by their own life during a time of war. The creative process raises the question of what kind of power the magical world of cinema could have during times of disaster. How to picture war through fiction? For Anna and the children, transforming trauma into a work of art is the ultimate way to stay human.
PAMFIR (2022)
Friday, March 10, 9:20 PM
Saturday, March 11, 7:00 PM
YouTube trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFjKI0a2P5w
IMBD: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9455468/
Directed by Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk. Winner of 17 international awards including the Raindance Award at the 2022 Raindance Indie Film Festival of UK, and nominated for the Golden Camera Award at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.
Synopsis:
Western Ukraine, on the eve of a traditional carnival. Pamfir returns to his family after months of working abroad in Poland. Their love is so unconditional that when his only child starts a fire in the prayer house, Pamfir has no other choice but to reconnect with his troubled past to repair his son’s fault. A family drama set against a backdrop of a criminal thriller, and is a story about devotion, loyalty, love, and redemption.
MY THOUGHTS ARE SILENT (2019)
Saturday, March 11, 3:15 PM
YouTube trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPyCUrLqA4M
IMBD: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7876510/
Debut Film by director Antonio Lukich. Winner of FIPRESCI, Golden Duke and Special Jury Mention at the 2019 Odesa International Film Festival.
Synopsis:
Twenty-five-year-old Vadym earns a living recording and selling all kinds of different sounds; nevertheless, he’d rather exchange his life in Kyiv for a better future in far-flung Canada. Thus, when he gets a generous job offer which might help him realize his dream, he jumps at the chance; he soon sets off to record the sounds of animals indigenous to Ukraine as well as a rare bird native to the Carpathians. The situation proves somewhat more complicated when Vadym’s companion on the trip turns out to be his mother… To the sounds of a synthesized music score, director Antonio Lukich unfolds a visually creative road movie, in which he demonstrates a highly unusual talent for constructing tragicomic situations.
HOMEWARD (2019)
Saturday, March 11, 9:20 PM
YouTube trailer:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThK0Qc87uh0
IMBD: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9431740/
Directed by Nariman Aliev. Nominated for the Golden Camera and Un Certain Regard Awards at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.
Synopsis:
Having lost his elder son in the war, Mustafa has to transfer his dead body to his homeland - Crimea. During this long and challenging trip, Mustafa tries to solve innumerable problems while finding a common language with his accompanying younger son. They experience a coming of age transition revealing each other's strengths and weaknesses. Having lost the one they both loved, the two grow genuinely close to each other.
JULIA BLUE (2018)
Sunday, March 12, 3:15 PM
YouTube trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZQx7gWdpgQ&t=10s
IMBD: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6057574/
Directed by Roxy Toporowych. Winner of the World Cinema Award at the 2018 Woodstock Film Festival and the Jury Prize at the 2018 Anchorage International Film Festival.
Synopsis:
Julia Blue is a story about a photography student who is inspired by the protests she witnessed in Kyiv during the 2014 Revolution of Dignity. Julia volunteers at the military hospital for injured soldiers, where she meets “English”, a soldier who was recently admitted with PTSD from fighting on the frontlines. Both Julia and English have fond memories of Ukraine’s revolution when they were younger, but secrets withheld from each other threaten more than just their relationship.
ATLANTIS (2019)
Sunday, March 12, 7:00 PM
YouTube trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyIe9_YgfDA
IMBD: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10749786/
Directed by Valentyn Vasyanovych. Winner of 21 international awards including Venice Horizons Award at the 2019 Venice Film Festival and Louve d’Or Award at the 2020 Montreal Festival of New Cinema.
Synopsis:
Eastern Ukraine, 2025. A desert, unsuitable for human habitation. Serhii, a former soldier suffering from PTSD, is having trouble adapting to his new reality: a life in pieces, a land in ruins. When the smelter he works at finally shuts down, he finds an unexpected way to cope, joining the volunteer Black Tulip mission dedicated to exhuming war corpses. By working alongside Katya, he understands that a better future is possible.
REFLECTION (2021)
Sunday, March 12, 9:20 PM
YouTube trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o6BBKGO7wQ
IMBD: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14225832/
Directed by Valentyn Vasyanovych. Nominated for the Best Film at the 2021 Venice Film Festival, and Industry Select Award at 2021 TIFF.
Synopsis:
Ukrainian surgeon Serhiy is captured by the Russian military forces in the conflict zone in Eastern Ukraine and while in captivity, he is exposed to horrifying scenes of humiliation, violence and indifference towards human life.
Yet in a place where human life is worthless, he finds a reason to live.
The Toronto Ukrainian Film Festival TUFF showcases the talent of contemporary Ukrainian artists and filmmakers. This Not-For-Profit festival will feature new and upcoming Ukrainian films which are being noted on the world stage. These works are being screened, nominated for, and are winning prestigious awards at festivals such as Cannes, Sundance, and TIFF. Many of these films were previously unavailable in Canada.
This is an opportunity to celebrate a facet of contemporary Ukrainian culture by telling stories of bravery, love, compassion, and fierce resistance through the medium of film.
"I can't be on the front lines, but as a Ukrainian-Canadian, I also can't sit idle and felt compelled to do something to support the brave men and women fighting, once again, to preserve their borders, national identity and culture.” says Roman Lysiak, who initated TUFF in January of this year.
All proceeds from the festival will go to Second Front Ukraine Foundation and the Canada-Ukraine Foundation (for their Aid for Artists Campaign).
Second Front Ukraine Foundation is an officially registered Canadian not-for-profit corporation. We work with trusted partners across North America and in Ukraine to deliver goods necessary to protect the lives of Ukrainians in the face of Russian aggression.
We were the first not-for-profit in Canada to successfully deliver 600 bulletproof vests to Ukraine since the beginning of the unprovoked war declared by Russia.
Second Front is committed to rapidly deploy all goods purchased thanks to the generosity of our donors to ensure that recipients in Ukraine can receive all the supplies needed for their safety and security.
Second Front only works with trusted logistics partners and volunteers with a proven track record of delivering aid to Ukraine, including to the frontlines and active military zones.
100% of your donations are spent on aid for Ukraine. We believe in full financial transparency and are accountable to our donors. Updates on expenditures can be found on our social media and the website.
Second Front holds an Export Permit For Controlled Goods issued by the Government of Canada, allowing the organization to ship military grade supplies from Canada to Ukraine.
One bulletproof vest is one heart that keeps beating.
The designated Aid for Artists fund of the Canada Ukraine Foundation provides an outlet for the community at large to support the arts and artists of Ukraine who keep the country forward-facing, courageous and united. “Art is the soul of our people; our strength and identity. Preserving and advancing Ukrainian culture is now more important than ever,” noted Shumka Executive Director and Aid for Artists Committee Chair, Darka Tarnawsky.
The CUF Aid for Artists of Ukraine Committee aims to work with Ukrainian visual and performing artists, arts institutions, NGOs, and various levels of government culture ministries to build capability and capacity within the Ukrainian arts community in Ukraine. Through CUF-supported and sponsored programs and projects, the arts will be promoted by enabling artists, arts workers, arts organizations, arts institutions and artist advocates to improve the preservation, promotion and development of Ukrainian arts in the communities they serve. The current focus of the Committee is on raising funds and determining criteria for dissemination of such.
