Ukrainian Newsreel and Documentary Film Studio

A documentary assembled from footage shot in the weeks following the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, documenting the immediate response, evacuation efforts, and the work of firefighters, doctors, and workers involved in containing the damaged reactor.

The July Storms is a dilogy about the first mass protests in Soviet Ukraine in a long time. The parts of the dilogy, Strike and Outburst, are dedicated to two waves of miners' strikes in Donetsk, in 1989 and 1990, which were unprecedented in scale. Several hundred thousand miners took part in these historical strikes. The events themselves became a significant factor in the history of the collapse of the Soviet communist system. While recording the unfolding of the strike and the miners' speeches on the square in Donetsk, the film's creators also observe the miners' miserable living conditions and hard working conditions at the Lidiyevka mine.

The second film of The July Storms duology starts with an accident at the Pochenkov Mine in February 1990, which caused the death of 13 miners. Since the summer protests, the real situation in the mines hardly changed; this lead to the second wave of miners' protests in 1990-91. This time, the miners' slogans include political demands, mentioning the decommunization of power and Ukraine's independence. The miners' representatives meet the communist officials, in particular with Stanislav Hubenko, the last First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, and Nikolay Ryzhkov, the head of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. The miners meet the August coup and the final disintegration of the country of the Soviets in strike committees.

In November 1988, director Anatoly Syrykh met with Sergei Parajanov in Tbilisi to make a documentary about him. However, Parajanov was clearly not in the mood to talk about his art. As a compromise, Syrykh offers to talk about the artist and time. The tired, offended director of "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" forbids Syrykh to film him. He agrees only to speak, recalling the most unpleasant moments of his life.

The film is about Ivan Honchar, an ardent collector of Ukrainian antiquities, who turned his Kyiv apartment into a unique museum.

In the Volyn region, in a monastery of the XVI century, an old people’s home is located. However, mental patients and former criminals also live there.

Documentary about the problems of lonely old age of pensioners of Chornobayiv District, Cherkasy Oblast, Ukraine; pensioners give interviews during household work.

The film is dedicated to the memory of the victims of Babyn Yar. A memorial service and a requiem rally are shown. The writer I. F. Drach makes a speech. Photo and film documents from the Second World War are used.

Documentary about the destruction of the Wall of Memory, the monumental avant-garde reliefs at Kyiv crematorium that artists Ada Rybachuk and Volodymyr Melnichenko had been working on since 1968, after local authorities concreted them over in 1982.

Documentary about the famous Ukrainian philosopher and poet Hryhoriy Skovoroda, which was banned by Soviet censorship. The film only reached the screens 15 years later, during Perestroika era.

Documentary film created in 1990 based on the script of artists Ada Rybachuk and Volodymyr Melnichenko. Picturesque landscapes of Kolguyev Island, conversations with the Nenets, intimate personal reflections of Volodymyr and Ada and their work in the workshop. "The Cry of the Bird" is a philosophical parable, the main character of which is the Kolguyev Island.

The film directed by V. Artemenko is dedicated to the members of the village orchestra of his native village of Melnyky, Chornobai district, Cherkasy region, who died during the war and who died of wounds. When the famous sculptor Anatoliy Khorechko saw film "Village Orchestra", he put aside all his affairs, left the city and for three years lived in the village of Melnyky and built a monument to the deceased orchestra players.

The film is about the demographic and environmental problems of Ukrainian villages. The film shows the resettlement of people from the radioactive contamination zone, the Kremenchuk reservoir, a wedding celebration, a child's baptism, etc.

In 1983, the documentary film "Soldier's Widows" was released on the screens of Ukraine, created by director Volodymyr Artemenko, whose father died at the front, and nine aunts remained widows. Based on real events, the picture about one small village of Melnyky in Cherkasy region, where a large number of widows lived, made a strong impression, because there were many such villages in Ukraine. At the Berlin Film Festival, one of the foreign film critics called Ukrainian widows the Madonnas of the 20th century.

The film is about the service of border guards at one of the outposts of the Western Border District: soldiers on guard duty, during their leisure time, see off demobilized soldiers.

About the celebration of the Day of Kyiv. The head of the executive committee of the Kyiv City Council V. Zgursky, writers S. Yovenko and V. Brovchenko are shown.

A touching cinematic portrait of a woman who survived the 1933 Holodomor and whose life comprised more dramatic moments than a screenwriter could possibly describe. This is one of the first films raising the issue of the Great Famine.