First ukrainian lgbtqia+ film

FeSTIVAL

Aimed at representing the scope of international queer filmmaking (with a special place for Ukrainian films), voicing topical issues in global and national contexts, representing the community and being its mouthpiece, in artistic as much as social and political dimensions.

FESTIVAL

The festival grows out of the Sunny Bunny strand at Molodist which has been part of the festival since 2001. Molodist (founded in 1970) was the second big international film festival in the world after Berlinale and Teddy to introduce the special award for LGBTQIA+ themed films and launch a dedicated program to it, which then evolved into Sunny Bunny as a competition of full-length fiction films and non-competition screenings of documentaries, short films, and queer classics. Andriy Khalpakhchi and Anatoliy Yerema were the founders of the LGBTQIA+ program at Molodist. Sunny Bunny has been the leading LGBTQIA+ themed cultural event in Ukraine and the Eeastern European region.

Sunny Bunny film festival will maintain the tradition of the eponymous programme at Molodist, while expanding into a wider scope of subjects and representing more films and talents. The main program will be the international competition dedicated to feature-length fiction films. In addition, it will showcase fiction, documentary, short, and classic films in the non-competition part of the festival. 

AWARDS AND JURIES

Sunny Bunny is a competition festival, with the eponymous main prize, awarded to the winner of the international competition of feature-length fiction films. The winner is chosen by an international jury of five members, which includes film industry professionals, artists, activists. The jury may award up to two special mentions in the competition.

Audience award is presented to one of the films from across the festival’s sections, based on the vote of viewers attending physical screenings in Kyiv.

This year's jury members:
PHOTOGRAPHER: Andrea Preysing

PHOTOGRAPHER: Andrea Preysing

Hanne Homrighausen
(she/her)

co-director and co-programmer of the Hamburg International Queer Film Festival, Germany

Since 2012 co-director and co-programmer at the Hamburg International Queer Film Festival, Germany’s largest LGBTIQ* film festival. She has also been a board member of QueerScope, the association of independent queer film festivals in Germany, for several years.

In both roles, it is important to her to create spaces for communication (and food) and to network internationally.

PHOTOGRAPHER: Andrea Preysing

Eugen Jebeleanu
(he/him)

a film and theatre director, actor, Romania

His works have been programmed at festivals in Romania, Denmark, Germany, Moldova, and France. He has directed plays at the prestigious National Theatre in Stuttgart and Opera in Lyon. POPPY FIELD is his first feature film that won in the Sunny Bunny competition at Kyiv IFF Molodist 2021.

After graduating from acting studies at UNATC — Bucharest and the Master of Directing and Dramaturgy in Paris, Eugen Jebeleanu dedicated his activity to directing theatre, opera, and, more recently, film. In 2010, together with the playwright Yann Verburgh, he founded “Company 28”, and later “Cie des Ogres” in 2017. He also directed many shows performed on stages in France and Germany. For the show ITINERARY. ONE DAY, THE WORLD WILL CHANGE, directed in 2019, received the award for best director at the UNITER Awards Gala.
PHOTOGRAPHER: Andrea Preysing

Ira Tantsiura
(she/her)

queer feminist activist, Ukraine

Co-founder and programmer of the feminist film festival Filma. Getting Real (IDA) fellow in 2024.

Regulations 2025

The LGBTQIA+ SUNNY BUNNY Film Festival will take place in Kyiv for the third time from April 18 to April 25, 2025.

The festival's goal is to be a significant representative of the Ukrainian and international LGBTQIA+ community, play a visible role in political and social representation, and catalyze change on the path to equality in Ukrainian society.

The objectives of the festival include analyzing key trends in addressing LGBTQIA+ themes in the works of filmmakers worldwide, especially emerging directors;

Establishing and expanding creative contacts among these filmmakers; integrating Ukrainian films into the global process of cinematography and industry, promoting the work of Ukrainian filmmakers with LGBTQIA+ themes;

Presenting and unveiling the cinematic heritage with LGBTQIA+ themes from around the world, including Ukraine and Eastern Europe.

For the full regulations and film submission, visit:

Team

Honorary President
Andriy Khalpakhchi
Director
Bohdan Zhuk
Financial Director
Iryna Chykolovets
Technical Director
Maksym Voitenko
Programming Team
Andriy Khalpakhchi
Igor Shestopalov
Bohdan Zhuk
Sasha Prokopenko
Coordinator of industry events
Aleks Dolottsev
Head of the communication department
Maryna Kryvoruchko
Head of the press department
Tasia Pugach
SMM coordinator
Kateryna Naberezhna
Director of trailers editing
Liudmyla Khivrenko
Head of translation department
Anastasiia Perun
Head of guest departament
Yaroslav Melnyk
Accreditation coordinator
Yulia Kremen
Ticket service coordinator
Yeva Makovetska
Volunteer Coordinator
Vladyslava Safronova
Embassy communication coordinator
Kateryna Kuznetsova
Online catalog editor
Anastasiia Illichova
Webeditor
Dmytro Skriabin
Driver-expeditor
Yurii Prydvorov