Five Ukrainian Filmmakers Selected for Residency at Göteborg Film Festival
Göteborg Film Festival is expanding its residency program for Ukrainian filmmakers, thanks to contributions from the festival audience. Out of a record number of applications, five filmmakers have now been selected.
For the fourth consecutive summer, a group of Ukrainian filmmakers will spend two months in Göteborg. The selected participants will stay in the city during August and September, working on their projects at the Göteborg Film Festival offices while also connecting with the local film industry. The residency program is funded by Region Västra Götaland with support from the Film office/the City of Göteborg, and in partnership with Företagsbostäder, that are providing accommodation.
This year, 100 applications were submitted—more than triple the number received in 2024.
"This says a lot about the current needs and circumstances facing Ukrainian filmmakers," says Camilla Larsson, Head of the Göteborg Film Fund at Göteborg Film Festival. "The overall quality of the applications is incredibly high, and there are so many projects that truly deserve to be realised and shown—not only in Ukraine, but also at Göteborg Film Festival and around the world."
During the festival earlier this year, a vignette film was screened, encouraging audiences to support artistic freedom. The funds raised are now being used to create not just one, but two additional residency spots—making room for a filmmaker couple and their baby.
"We are so grateful to have our partners with us for another year. And this time, it’s especially meaningful that our audience is also part of the effort," says Camilla Larsson. "We’re very excited to welcome these talented filmmakers to late-summer Göteborg, to provide them with a peaceful space to work, and to introduce them to both the film industry and, of course, the audience."
Last summer’s residencies led to a co-production deal with a Göteborg-based producer for one of the projects. Among this year’s selected filmmakers, one project has already found a co-producer through networking within the Göteborg Film Fund.
The selection committee for the 2025 residency consisted of Camilla Larsson, Head of Göteborg Film Fund, and Olena Yershova, producer at Tato Film.
For more information, please contact: Camilla Larsson: camilla.larsson@goteborgfilmfestival.se or +46 708 423980
The filmmakers arriving in Göteborg this August are:
Valeriia Kalchenko
Director and Screenwriter
Educated at the I. K. Karpenko-Karyi Kyiv National University of Theater, Film, and Television, Kalchenko has received awards for the short film It Was Showering in Manchester and the feature script My Thoughts Are Silent, both created in collaboration with Antonio Lukic.
In Göteborg, Kalchenko will work on the script for her first solo feature film, Shtuki, which has previously been selected for the Filmboost grant. Shtuki blends realism with fairy-tale elements and animation, telling the story of an English teacher who, fleeing an air raid in Kyiv, unexpectedly encounters a group of strange, troubled children from various time periods—on the rooftop of an abandoned hotel.
"The idea of the film SHTUKi came to me in the at fall of 2022, when I saw how people began to “disappear”. Living in the rear, far from military actions, but in the epicenter of the information war, people melted away like candles. Because that’s how it works: first it floods you with fear, anger and hatred, then it drains you of hope, faith and optimism. You lose the ability to sincerely rejoice and get upset, to empathize, and to trust. You no longer recognize yourself. You “disappear”… I was so horrified that I decided to come up with a story in which it would be possible to turn back time and make this war never happened. (…) SHTUKi – is my fantasy of how a teacher with amnesia, naughty kids from the past, and outcast cartoon animals can make this world a better place. Or at least make it more fun."
Anastasiia Solonevych
Director and Screenwriter
Educated in film and television directing at Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv, Solonevych co-directed the short film As It Was with Damian Kocur. The film was selected for the short film competition at Cannes in 2023 and went on to screen at festivals around the world.
In Göteborg, she will be working on the script for her debut feature film 30 Days of Summer, which recently won awards at both the co-production market at the Les Arcs Film Festival and the Berlinale Co-Production Market in Berlin. The film is being co-produced by Marie Kjellson of Kjellson & Wik in Göteborg.
"30 Days of Summer is an intimate, character-driven story that explores the psychological and emotional landscape of two estranged sisters — Anna, a refugee living in Berlin, and Valeria, a Ukrainian soldier preparing to return to the front lines. I would love to use the residency in Göteborg as an opportunity to explore potential filming locations and begin building connections with local actors and collaborators. This would be an important step toward bringing the project to life and putting the production on track. This residency would be more than a place to write, it would be a space of healing, connection, and exploration. I am deeply committed to telling stories that give voice to the emotional truths often overshadowed by political narratives. 30 Days of Summer is such a story, and I am eager to share it with the world."
Helena Maksyom
Documentary Filmmaker, Cinematographer, Journalist
Holding a Master’s degree in Ecology and Environmental Protection from the National Aviation University, Maksyom has worked as a journalist, translator, writer, project manager, cinematographer, and director. Her feature debut, the documentary Everything Will Not Be Fine, co-directed with Adrian Pirvu, premiered at IDFA in 2020.
When the full-scale invasion began, she joined the National Guard—but never stopped making films. In Göteborg, she will focus on post-production and the launch of The Soldier’s Journey, a film that recounts her experiences at the front lines and the people she encountered there.
"Over the past three years, I’ve served in many regions of the country and experienced things I’m still processing. But throughout this time, I never stopped being a filmmaker. Whenever I could, I kept filming. I now have over 100 hours of footage from these years—my own perspective as a woman navigating war, responsibility, fear, and purpose. (…) I’m applying for this residency because it would come at a pivotal time. By then, I expect to be demobilized and fully focused on finishing the film, shaping its release, and working on an impact campaign around it. I also have a significant amount of unused footage that I hope to craft into a second, more intimate film."
Audience Residency
Kateryna Gornostai – Director, Screenwriter
Nikon Romanchenko – Director, Screenwriter, Editor
Kateryna Gornostai studied at Marina Razbezhkina and Mikhail Ugarov’s School of Documentary Film and Theatre. Her fiction debut Stop-Zemlia won the Crystal Bear from the Youth Jury in the Generation 14+ section at the Berlinale in 2021, and went on to tour festivals around the world. In 2025, her film Timestamp was screened in the main competition at the Berlinale—where she and Romanchenko also welcomed the birth of their son Miro in February.
Nikon Romanchenko studied at the National I. K. Karpenko-Kary Theatre, Cinema and Television University. He works in both documentary and fiction, and his short films have been screened and awarded at numerous international festivals. He was also the editor of both Stop-Zemlia and Timestamp.
In Göteborg, they will each be working on the scripts for their respective fiction features. Romanchenko’s Reconstruction is a drama about a group of people who meet at a summer camp where they are clearing and rebuilding areas that were occupied—while also rebuilding themselves. The story is partly autobiographical. Gornostai’s Antonivka gently explores different forms of loss and death through the lens of family and couple relationships. Set in a future where Ukraine has won the war, the film has received support from, among others, Netflix.
"This residency would be a wonderful opportunity for us to move forward with our projects. We need to attend together as a family so that neither of us has to step away from the filmmaking process. That way, we could alternate between childcare and scriptwriting, and hopefully find a balance that often gets lost in the routines of daily life. The chance to engage in networking and receive expert feedback from film professionals only strengthens our motivation. Additionally, spending time in a peaceful and quiet environment would allow for greater focus — and, to be honest, the rest we both truly need."