Prairie Ukrainian Film Festival continues to grow
From animation to comedy to dramas to documentaries, PUFF showcases spectrum of Ukrainian filmmaking
By Paul Sinkewicz
The history and rich culture of Ukraine was celebrated on the big screen in Saskatoon recently, during the third annual Prairie Ukrainian Film Festival (PUFF).
Seven acclaimed films from Ukraine were featured from June 13-15 at the Ukrainian Museum of Canada and the Remai Modern.
Dr. Nadya Foty-Oneschuk, Interim Director of the Prairie Centre for the Study of Ukrainian Heritage (PCUH) and curator of PUFF, said the 2025 edition of the festival was a big success.
“It was a record-breaking year for us – with bigger audiences overall, more people taking in the whole festival, and more people who were entirely unconnected to any of the partner organizations,” said Foty-Oneschuk.
The festival is a partnership between PCUH, the Ukrainian Museum of Canada, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress of Saskatchewan, and the Remai Modern.
“Stories connect us as human beings, no matter our own personal experiences and histories,” Foty-Oneschuk said at the opening of the Friday feature. “As the Academy Award winning director of one of our feature films last year, Mstyslav Chernov, said in his acceptance speech at the 2024 Oscars, ‘Cinema forms memories, and memories form history.’
“How poignantly true these words continue to be. By sharing the stories of Ukrainian filmmakers half-way around the world in Saskatoon, PUFF is – in its own small way – forming or re-forming the public’s perception of Ukraine and Ukrainian voices” said Foty-Oneschuk. “This is something we, as a team, are humbled by and something that we take great pride in.”
The 2025 celebration of Ukrainian filmmaking was kicked off on Thursday, June 12 with a showing of Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, the 1965 Soviet-era film by the uncompromising Sergei Parajanov, who boldly refused to let his work be dubbed into Russian.
Thanks to a grant from the Ukrainian Canadian Congress of Saskatchewan, students from three local elementary schools were bused to the Remai Modern to watch the animated fantasy film The Dragon Spell.
Other films screened during the festival were “Slovo” House, Ukrainian Dance Movie, Ride the Line and The Rocky Road to Berlin.
The festival was capped off with the internationally acclaimed documentary Porcelain War, which tells the story of three Ukrainian artists who stay behind after the full-scale invasion began, and who – somehow, despite unimaginable circumstances – manage to continue finding and creating beauty in the world, as only artists can.
In introducing the film, Foty-Oneschuk paid tribute to the subjects of the documentary and the filmmakers for their inspiration.
“As with all of our films this year, in one way or another, we are reminded of the awe-inspiring resilience of the Ukrainian people in the face of erasure. It is this resilience that – we hope – inspires our audiences to continue standing with Ukraine, as they truly are standing on behalf of all of us.”
Foty-Oneschuk shared the credit for the growing success of the festival with to the dedicated PUFF team, comprised of Lindsey Rewuski, Communications Manager of the Ukrainian Museum of Canada, Jen Budney, Executive Director of the Ukrainian Museum of Canada, Danylo Puderak, Executive Director at Ukrainian Canadian Congress of Saskatchewan, and Kyle Zurevinski, Digital/Media Program Assistant at Remai Modern.
“Our work as a team begins in the fall, and honestly – it is something we so genuinely enjoy watching come to fruition every June. This would simply not be possible without their talents and enthusiasm.”
She also thanked the festival volunteers for greeting our audiences with programs and for tallying the audience votes for each film, the attendees over the four days who supported PUFF so meaningfully, and especially the filmmakers, “Whose stories we’ve had the privilege to share. That is the real reason why we eagerly plan the next PUFF.”
Please enjoy this SLIDESHOW from PUFF 2025
