Ukrainian Cinema Scores Double Win as Rotterdam Backs Two New Films

Two Ukrainian projects, Deus Ex Machina by Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi and Carousel by Pylyp Sotnychenko, have received grants from the Hubert Bals Fund of the International Film Festival Rotterdam.

According to Suspilne, the festival announced the news on its website.

Both projects were selected as winners of the Script and Project Development 2026 program, which will support 20 film projects this year. Each project will receive a €10,000 grant.

Tamara Tatishvili, head of the Hubert Bals Fund, said that expanding the number of grants is particularly important at a time when funding for film project development is increasingly under threat. According to her, the fund’s regional focus on Southeastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia is intended to support regions that remain underrepresented in international funding decisions.

Slaboshpytskyi’s Project

Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi’s new feature film, Deus Ex Machina, focuses on the Russian occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

“A reconstruction of the Russian military occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant — a true story of courage and betrayal,” the project’s description reads.

Earlier, the project was selected for the fifth edition of a joint program by Netflix, the Ukrainian Film Academy, and European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs (EAVE), which supports Ukrainian screenwriters.

Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi is a Ukrainian filmmaker whose feature The Tribe won the Nespresso Grand Prize at the Cannes Critics’ Week, the European Film Award, and more than 40 international awards.

The director is also developing another feature film, Radioactive, a co-production between Ukraine, Austria, and Germany. Described as a “nuclear noir,” the film will star British actor Clive Owen, with production scheduled to begin in 2027.

Sotnychenko’s Project

Pylyp Sotnychenko’s project Carousel tells the story of a journalist during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

“During the war, a journalist assigned to cover the invasion discovers an old VHS camcorder in his parents’ house and begins filming his own life. As time passes, he gradually loses touch with his loved ones and misses the birth of his son, who is later seen sitting alone on a carousel,” the project’s description reads.

Pylyp Sotnychenko is a Ukrainian film director and producer and a member of the Ukrainian Film Academy. In 2023, he received the Heart of Sarajevo award for Best Director at the Sarajevo Film Festival.

Recently, the director also won the top prize at the Transylvania Pitch Stop 2026 international pitching forum for his feature film project Times New Roman. The film will be his next feature following La Palisiada, which won the FIPRESCI Prize at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and was selected as Ukraine’s submission for the Academy Awards.

Overall, the list of projects awarded Hubert Bals Fund grants in 2026 includes works by filmmakers from China, North Macedonia, Mexico, Georgia, India, Brazil, Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Nigeria, South Africa, Serbia, the Dominican Republic, Mongolia, and several other countries.

According to the fund, many of the selected projects explore themes of forced displacement, migration, belonging, aging, and later stages of life.

EMPR