Prairie Ukrainian Film Festival (PUFF)
June 12–15, 2025
Schedule:
Thursday, June 12
at Ukrainian Museum of Canada:
7 PM – Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1965)
Friday, June 13 at Remai Modern:
7 PM – “Slovo” House. Unfinished Novel (2021)
Saturday, June 14 at Remai Modern:
1 PM – PUFFchyk Children’s Feature: The Dragon Spell (2016)
3:30 PM – Ukrainian Dance Movie (2024) & Panel Discussion
7 PM – Ride the Line (2024)
Sunday, June 15 at Remai Modern:
1 PM – The Rocky Road to Berlin (2024)
3:30 PM – Porcelain War (2024)
Scroll down for film descriptions!
PUFF Klassyka: SHADOWS OF FORGOTTEN ANCESTORS (1965)
Thursday, June 12, 7:00 PM
at Ukrainian Museum of Canada
Directed by Sergei Parajanov. Runtime: 1h 37m.
Synopsis:
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors is a 1965 Soviet-era Ukrainian film by the filmmaker Sergei Parajanov based on the 1911 novel by Ukrainian writer Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi, that tells a "Romeo and Juliet tale" of young Ukrainian Hutsul lovers trapped on opposite sides of a Carpathian family blood feud.
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors is considered to be the most internationally heralded Ukrainian film in history, and a classic of Ukrainian magical realist cinema.
IMBD: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3037582/
Language: Ukrainian with English subtitles
Keywords: drama, romance, feature
“SLOVO” HOUSE. UNFINISHED NOVEL (2021)
Friday, June 13, 7:00 PM
at Remai Modern
Directed by Taras Tomenko. Runtime: 2h.
Synopsis:
Set in 1927 Kharkiv, Slovo House: Unfinished Novel is a gripping black-and-white historical drama that explores the rise and brutal fall of Ukraine’s literary elite during the Stalinist era. The film follows a group of celebrated writers who were brought together under one roof—Slovo House, a luxurious residence meant to foster creativity. But comfort soon turned to surveillance, and the building became a trap.
This haunting story unfolds amid the Executed Renaissance, a vibrant cultural movement tragically silenced by Soviet repression. Of the building’s 66 apartments, only 16 remained inhabited after arrests, executions, and forced exiles.
Featuring real historical figures and framed by the horrors of the Holodomor, the film captures the unravelling of artistic freedom under authoritarian rule. Slovo House: Unfinished Novel is both an homage and a warning—a powerful reminder of what is lost when art is forced to serve power.
IMBD: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15485194/
Language: Ukrainian with English subtitles
Keywords: drama, feature
PUFFchyk Children’s Feature: THE DRAGON SPELL (2016)
Saturday, June 14, at 1:00 PM
At Remai Modern
Directed by Manuk Depoyan. Runtime: 1h 25m.
Synopsis:
The Dragon Spell (Микита Кожум'яка) is a 2016 Ukrainian 3D animated fantasy film based on Anton Siyanika's fairy tale of the same name. The film is about a young boy named Nicky, who saves the magical world and humans from evil.
IMBD: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27546324/
Language: English
Keywords: animated, feature
UKRAINIAN DANCE MOVIE (2024)
Saturday, June 14, at 3:30 PM
At Remai Modern
Followed by a Panel Discussion
Directed by Roxy Toporowych. Runtime: 20m.
Synopsis:
After an audition goes awry, a professional Ukrainian-American folk dancer, whose career was upended by war, tries to find a new sense of meaning by teaching at her spirited father’s folk dancing school in Hollywood. With his own major life change just around the corner, it is up to father and daughter to decide if the legacy of the school will live on as they find the power to perform one last dance.
IMBD: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27673732/
Language: English
Keywords: short, comedy, drama
RIDE THE LINE (2024)
Saturday, June 14, 7:00 PM
At Remai Modern
Directed by Ihor Volochii. Runtime: 1h 10m.
Synopsis:
In the darkest times, while being in the worst shapes of their life, two desperate friends decided to cycle 1,500 km along the entire front line in Ukraine, through liberated villages and towns, with a charitable purpose. This movie tells the impressive stories of the people they meet on their way and, finally, the terrible consequences of the war, which turned into an experience that will undoubtedly be etched in their memory for a lifetime. On top of that de-occupied, but still mined territories, prepared many surprises for the two daredevils on the line of war, obscurity and longing for victory.
Language: English, Ukrainian, Russian with subtitles
Keywords: documentary, feature
THE ROCKY ROAD TO BERLIN (2024)
Sunday, June 15, at 1:00 PM
At Remai Modern
Directed by Olga Ryashina. Runtime: 1h 44m.
The story centers on the adventures of a Ukrainian novice musician Kuzma and his friend Bard, who set out on their trip to Berlin in a rusty "Pobeda" car. Kuzma wants to exchange his old car for a "Mercedes 600" with a German collector in order to impress Barbara, the girl he is in love with. But the hectic nightlife of the German capital involves the hero in stunning adventures that change his purpose, harden his character and help him find his true self.
IMBD: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13585362/
Language: Ukrainian with English subtitles
Keywords: comedy, adventure, feature
PORCELAIN WAR (2024)
Sunday, June 15, at 3:30 PM
At Remai Modern
Directed by Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev. Winner of the U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival and nominated for the 2025 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film. Runtime: 1h 27m.
Under roaring fighter jets, Ukrainian artists Slava, Anya, and Andrey choose to stay behind. Defiantly finding beauty amid destruction, they show that although it's easy to make people afraid, it's hard to destroy their passion for living.
Language: Ukrainian with English Subtitles
IMBD: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30294282/
Keywords: documentary, feature