Between December 2024 and the end of this year, 50 homegrown film productions have taken place in Ukraine despite the war caused by the Russian invasion in February 2022, Andrii Osipov, the head of the Ukrainian State Film Agency, said in Tallinn, Estonia, on Friday. And he shared plans for a culture fund and cash rebates for international productions shooting in Ukraine to energize the film sector.
He spoke during a session entitled “Filming in Ukraine 2026” that wrapped up the 24th edition of the Industry@Tallinn & Baltic Event portion of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF).
“This year, 50 Ukrainian films will be finalized. It is really a huge number for the Ukrainian film industry,” he said, according to a translator. Some of these projects had started production before the war broke out and recently received additional funding to wrap. He touted the fact that the recent production activity has allowed Ukrainian films to premiere every one to two weeks, ensuring a schedule that spreads out new titles and gives them an opportunity to reach audiences at home and abroad.
“And that even though, unfortunately, this year there was no granting program from the Ukrainian State Film Agency,” Osipov said. “That’s why it is highly important to have the grant program next year.”
He mentioned that for next year, a 50 million euros ($57.5 million) fund for movies, theater productions and other cultural output would be available under an initiative proposed by President Volodymyr Zelensky, with more details to be unveiled in the near future. He said that about 70-90 percent of funding would go to Ukrainian producers, with the rest going to international co-producers.
He also said that the “hope” is that Ukraine’s first-ever cash rebates program for international productions would launch in the new year, with the plan being for a 25 percent rebate for qualified expenses, plus an additional 5 percent if certain cultural criteria are met.
“We want the Ukrainian film industry to develop, and we want to develop together with the whole world,” Osipov said.
The war, of course, continues to pose challenges for filmmakers. “During air raids, all filming has to be stopped,” he explained. “And also, a new problem arises now, blackouts, because without electricity, the production process is paused, and that especially influences the post-production period, because there is no possibility to render files.”
Also, “there is a big lack of professionals because of the mobilization that is happening in Ukraine, and unfortunately, there were cases where people were mobilized right from the film set,” the state film agency head explained. “So, we will do our best to raise this question.”
Oksana Chornobryvtseva, the deputy head of the Association of Regional Film Commissions of Ukraine, also spoke during Friday’s Tallinn event.
“There are 10 regional film commissions that continue their work across the country,” she said. “I would like to share the main idea that Ukraine is open to supporting all your production processes as efficiently as possible, even under wartime conditions.” That goes for both Ukrainian and foreign productions.
She also highlighted that foreign productions shooting in Ukraine should be prepared for delays and challenges due to the war. “Border crossings may take extra time due to passport control and security checks,” she said. Damaged roads may affect transport schedules. And a slide she showed noted that “geolocation services may be unavailable during alerts.” So, routes and coordination should ideally be planned offline.