The long-running and popular New British Film Festival showcases new UK cinema, drawing audiences of more than 10,000. Held in November each year in Kyiv, Odessa, Lviv, Kharkiv, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk, through the festival the British Council and our partners at Arthouse Traffic plan to:
- present six recent UK film releases, with selections in feature, documentary, animation and short film
- organise multiple-platform arts events like workshops and musical visual-media performances
- promote the best UK filmmakers and actors
- lead discussions on contemporary films.
Since 2000, the British Film Festival in Ukraine has been hosting both celebrated guests like Sir Richard Eyre, as well as up-and-coming filmmakers like Nick Whitfield, whose debut Skeletons won the Best British Award at the 2012 Edinburgh International Film Festival.
In 2013, viewers in Kyiv and Odessa were treated to performances by Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller in the Royal National Theatre cinematic version of Danny Boyle's Frankenstein.
The Council partners with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to arrange special screenings of Clio Barnad’s The Selfish Giant. The film took home the Europa Cinemas Label for best European film shown at Cannes. Screenings marking International Children's Day were held in Kyiv, Odessa and Donetsk.