Pamfir

Pamfir is director Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk's debut feature, a Ukraine, France, Poland, and Chile co-production that had its world premiere in the Directors' Fortnight section of the 75th Cannes Film Festival on May 22, 2022. Set on the Ukraine-Romania border, it won competitive state funding from the Ukrainian State Film Agency in 2019. It made Ukraine's 2023 Oscar shortlist, though the official submission went instead to Mstyslav Chernov's documentary "20 Days in Mariupol"; Pamfir still won a special mention at Kyiv's Molodist Film Festival and six nominations at Ukraine's national film awards. Who it's for: anyone curious about a Ukrainian film on smuggling and fatherhood at the border, shot before the war but drawing international attention afterward. Who it's not for: viewers wanting a light, easily resolved family drama, since the film confronts corruption, crime, and religion head on.