
Operator VS Documentary Film: Film Workshop with Les Lieskov
5 PM, September 16
A practical and theoretical lecture by cinematographer Les Leskov on what a cinematographer does in documentary filmmaking: from life hacks in preparing for a project to choosing the most successful creative tools and equipment.
Location: America House Lviv
Balconies of Time: Opening Films Wiz-Art 2025
6:30 PM, Wednesday, September 17
BRIGHT WHITE LIGHT // 14 min., Henna Välkky, Eesu Lehtola, Finland, 2024
WHERE RUSSIA ENDS // 20 min., Oleksiy Radynski, Ukraine, 2024
WE MADE A FILM // 14 min., Tota Alves, Portugal, 2024
OBITUARY SERVICE FOR YOU // 12 min., María Salafranca, Cuba, 2024
THE SOIL, WHICH CONNECTS US // 8 min., Richard Marx, Germany, 2023
TOO CLOSE // 12 min., Eugene Slupchuk, Ukraine, 2024
Winners of European Film Festivals: Selection #1
3 PM, Thursday, September 18
LOVE TO DEATH // 26 min., Ingrid Heiderscheidt, Belgium, 2024
BETWEEN DELICATE AND VIOLENT // 14 min., Şirin Bahar Demirel, Turkey, Netherlands, 2023
FISH RIVER ANTHOLOGY // 9 min., Veera Lamminpää, Finland, 2024
TWO PEOPLE EXCHANGING SALIVA // 36 min., Natalie Musteata, Alexandre Singh, France, United States, 2024
War on Art
5 PM, Thursday, September 18
WAR ON ART // 73 min., Andrzej Miekus, Estonia, 2025
On February 24, 2022, Google locations of Ukrainian museums are switched off, and Ukrainian art goes underground. Lacking official guidance, a courageous network of volunteers embarks to save artefacts, risking their lives to preserve Ukraine’s cultural identity. War on Art is a story of resilience in the face of destruction, where the struggle to save art is a battle to save a nation.
Worlds Clash: Non-competition Films, Selection #1
7 PM, Thursday, September 18
FOUR WALLS OF MEMORY // 12 min., Joanna Płatek, Poland, 2024
GRANDMA NAI WHO PLAYED FAVORITES // 19 min., Chheangkea, Cambodia, France, United States, 2025
WORLD AT STAKE // 20 min., Susanna Flock, Adrian Jonas Haim, Jona Kleinlein, Austria, 2025
BAD FOR A MOMENT // 15 min., Daniel Soares, Portugal, 2024
HURIKÁN // 13 min., Jan Saska, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czechia, France, Slovakia, 2024
SPA // 12 min., Ieva Šakalytė, Lithuania, 2024
Dad’s Lullaby
9 PM, Thursday, September 18
Dad’s Lullaby // 78 min., Lesia Diak, Ukraine, 2025
The unseen damage inflicted by war on personal relationships pushes war veteran Serhiy away from his family. Haunted by loss and war, he battles to reconnect with his wife, Nadiia, and their three sons, Sasha (11), Artem (8) and Nikita (3). The film takes an unexpected turn when Serhiy turns the camera on the director herself. This role reversal creates a space for vulnerable dialogue about love and human relationships as the filmmaker shares her own experiences of a breakup with another Ukrainian war veteran. The trust and empathy built between the protagonist and the filmmaker not only convey war’s lasting emotional toll but also showcase the healing potential of storytelling and documentary filmmaking.
Winners of European Film Festivals: Selection #2
3 PM, Friday, September 19
HEALTHY CURE // 18 min., Lucía G. Romero, Spain, 2024
ROSE // 18 min., Annika Mayer, Germany, 2024
MY SECRET CYBERLOVE // 30 min., Bartosz Stankiewicz, Poland, 2024
PERCEBES // 12 min., Alexandra Ramires, Laura Gonçalves, Portugal, 2024
International Competition: Selection #1
5 PM, Friday, September 19
ROCK PAPER SCISSORS // 20 min., Franz Böhm, United Kingdom, 2024
HUN TUN // 15 min., Magdalena Hejzlarová, Czechia, 2024
RUTH // 22 min., Sonia Martí Gallego, Spain, 2024
LIVING STONES // 20 min., Jákob Ladányi Jancsó, Austria, Hungary, 2025
CRUST // 26 min., Jens Kevin Georg, Germany, 2023
International Competition: Selection #2
7 PM, Friday, September 19
CRITICAL CONDITION // 24 min., Mila Zhluktenko, Germany, 2025
PERCEBES // 12 min., Alexandra Ramires, Laura Gonçalves, Portugal, 2024
THE MAN WHO COULD NOT REMAIN SILENT // 13 min., Nebojša Slijepčević, Croatia, 2024
WORMS // 19 min., Domenico Distilo, Italy, 2025
THEIR EYES // 20 min., Nicolas Gourault, France, 2025
International Competition: Selection #3
9 PM, Friday, September 19
SMOKE OF THE FIRE // 22 min., Daryna Mamaisur, Portugal, Ukraine, 2023
SUCKER’S DEATH // 21 min., Krzysztof Grudziński, Poland, 2023
THE SHYNESS OF TREES // 9 min., Bingqing Shu, Maud Le Bras, Jiaxin Huang, Simin He, Lina Han, Loïck du Plessis d’Argentré, Sofiia Chuikovska, France, 2024
BLUE HEART // 15 min., Samuel Suffren, Haiti, 2025
MADE OF SUGAR // 25 min., Clàudia Cedó, Spain, 2024
Free 60s. An Uncensored Balcony Party
1 PM, Saturday, September 20
We invite participants and guests of the film festival to an atmospheric networking event in the style of the 1960s. Accompanied by music from Kostia Vidmotay’s cassette tapes and records, we will be transported back to the days of the 1960s apartment concerts. Kostya Vidmotay is an artist, researcher of Ukrainian popular music of the 60s-80s, vinyl digger, and specialist in digitizing audio tapes at the “Dim Zvuku” department of Lviv Radio. Special guest Olena Zaretska, head of the Horska and Zaretsky Foundation, will share her memories of those legendary evenings. The event is dedicated to the birthday of Alla Horska, an artist and dissident. Everyone will have the opportunity to create a postcard or poster with quotes from the artist.
Entrance is free with a donation to the Wiz-Art x AZOV.ONE fundraiser for the rehabilitation of soldiers’ needs related to examination, treatment, and rehabilitation. All funds will be transferred to the Support Service of the 12th Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine “Azov.” You’ll have to show a screenshot of the donation at the entrance.
Ukrainian Competition: Selection #1
4 PM, Saturday, September 20
DRIVING LESSONS // 18 min., Anastasiya Gruba, Ukraine, 2024
HOME IS 1117 KM AWAY // 17 min., Marta Smerechynska, Ukraine, Hungary, 2024
KYIV CAKE // 22 min., Mykyta Lyskov, Ukraine, Estonia, 2025
BLUEBERRY SUMMER // 19 min., Masha Kondakova, Ukraine, France, 2024
CURFEW // 23 min., Yelyzaveta Toptyhina, Ukraine, 2025
Ukrainian Competition: Selection #2
6 PM, Saturday, September 20
BEWARE OF THE GOOD DOG // 26 min., Adelina Borets, Ukraine, Poland, 2024
UNAVAILABLE // 20 min, Kyrylo Zemlyanyi, Ukraine, 2025
I DIED IN IRPIN // 11 min., Anastasiia Falileieva, Ukraine, Slovakia, Czechia, 2025
HELLO, I’M ON THE HILL // 14 min., Liza Pyrozhkova, Ukraine, 2024
ADDITIONAL SCENES // 15 min., Roman Khimei, Yarema Malashchuk, Ukraine, 2024
Ukrainian Competition: Selection #3
8 PM, Saturday, September 20
A DAY WITH POLLY // 12 min., Nazar Onufriv, Ukraine, 2025
SHRIMP, SWITCH, CIGARETTE BUTT & A LITTLE BOTTLE // 17 min., Olha Pyrozhyk, Ukraine, 2025
THOUGHTS ON PEACE IN AN AIR RAID // 16 min., Vyacheslav Turyanytsya, Ukraine, 2025
DADDY’S LITTLE SCRATCH // 24 min., Yehor Harmash, Ukraine, 2025
SONIA’S BLOSSOM // 15 min., Nataliia Suprun, Ukraine, 2025
Antonio Lukich on People Planet. Moderated by Volodymyr Byehlov, The Ukrainians
1 PM, Sunday, September 21
A conversation with Ukrainian director Antonio Lukich (My Thoughts Are Silent, Luxembourg, Luxembourg) moderated by Volodymyr Byehlov as a special event within the People Planet project by The Ukrainians media.
La Paliciada
3 PM, Sunday, September 21
La Paliciada // 100 min., Philip Sotnychenko, Ukraine, 2023
Ukraine, 1996. 5 months before the moratorium on the death penalty, two old friends, a police detective and a forensic psychiatrist, investigate a murder of their colleague.
Nostalgia for the Future: Non-competition Films, Selection #2
5 PM, Sunday, September 21
MAYBE ELEPHANTS // 17 min., Torill Kove, Canada, Norway, 2024
PLACE UNDER THE SUN // 20 min., Vlad Bolgarin, Moldova, 2024
ABEL // 15 min., Dekel Berenson, Paul Wesley, Mexico, United Kingdom, United States, 2024
FROM MADRID TO HEAVEN // 19 min., Pablo Pérez, Spain, 2025
Closing of Wiz-Art 2025
7 PM, Sunday, September 21
Closing of the festival and screening of winning films.