To the Victory!
2025 Ukrainian docudrama film

To the Victory
Promotional poster
UkrainianЗа Перемогу!
Directed byValentyn Vasyanovych
Screenplay byValentyn Vasyanovych
Produced by
Starring
  • Valentyn Vasyanovych
  • Vladlen Odudenko
  • Misha Lubarsky
  • Sergii Stepanskyy
Cinematography
  • Misha Lubarsky
  • Valentyn Vasyanovych
Edited byValentyn Vasyanovych
Music byDominykas Digimas
Production
companies
  • Arsenal Films
  • M-Films
  • ForeFilms
Distributed byBest Friend Forever
Release date
  • 7 September 2025 (2025-09-07) (TIFF)
Running time
105 minutes
Countries
  • Ukraine
  • Lithuania
LanguageUkrainian
Budget€400,000 (US$446,000)[1]

To the Victory (Ukrainian: «За Перемогу!», romanized: Za peremohu!) is a 2025 Ukrainian docudrama film written and directed by Valentyn Vasyanovych and co-produced by Volodymyr Yatsenko. The film tells the story of how war affects families and friendships. It takes place in Ukraine's post-war future. Roman, a film director who’s having a tough time, wants to start making movies again. He lives in Kyiv with his teenage son, while his wife and young daughter are in Vienna, to which they escaped when Russia invaded Ukraine.[2][1]

The film had its world premiere in the Platform section of the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival on 7 September 2025, where it won the Platform Prize.[3][4]

Cast

  • Valentyn Vasyanovych as Roman
  • Vladlen Odudenko
  • Misha Lubarsky
  • Sergii Stepanskyy
  • Volodymyr Yatsenko
  • Marianna Novikova
  • Hryhoriy Naumov

Production

Around October 2022, after setting aside several initial concepts, Valentyn Vasyanovych chose to write a screenplay inspired by his own experiences and the challenges of living through wartime. He developed the project with support from a Netflix-funded development grant. He was also one of the 48 Ukrainian filmmakers selected by the Ukrainian Film Academy to receive this grant, each valued at US$15,000.[5]

Lithuanian producers, M-Films decided to support the film in a concerted effort to help Ukrainian filmmakers, on a call given by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his live address to the audience during the opening of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival under the European Solidarity Fund for Ukrainian Films and Lithuanian Film Fund.[6] In 2024 Eurimages funded the project with €70,000 and European co-productions.[7]

The film was made by a tiny team of just six or seven people — all close friends of the director, Valentyn Vasyanovych. They helped each other by acting in the film and also working behind the camera. Vasyanovych called the project “supportive” and said it gave them a “huge psychological release,” helping them escape the stress of war for a little while. In an interview ahead of the film’s Toronto premiere to the Variety, Vasyanovych said:

“It really helped to distract [us] from other thoughts,” he explained. “It was a kind of collective psychotherapy.”[8]

In May 2025, producer of the film Volodymyr Yatsenko presented the film along with other Ukrainian film at the Cannes Marché du Film.[1]

Release

To the Victory! had its world premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival on 7 September 2025 in Platform section.[9]

The film was screened in 'The Essentials' for its Quebec Premiere at the 2025 Festival du nouveau cinéma on 12 October 2025.[10]

It was screened in Open Horizons at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival on 2 November 2025.[11]

The film was screened in the World Cinema Now section of the 37th Palm Springs International Film Festival and have its United States premiere on 3 January 2026.[12]

In August 2025, Brussels-based company Best Friend Forever got the international sales and promotions rights of the film.[13]

Reception

Writing for Loud And Clear, Roberto Tyler Ortiz described the film as "respectable but somewhat underwhelming," praising its clear vision and precise execution. He highlighted the handheld cinematography and convincing performances as strengths, but noted that "scattered storytelling, underdeveloped characters, and a lack of urgency" prevented the film from achieving its full emotional potential. Despite these shortcomings, Ortiz concluded, "I still quite liked it."[14] Savina Petkova of Cineuropa praised To the Victory! for its introspective portrayal of wartime trauma and emotional fragility. She noted that the protagonist’s attempt to make a film about families falling apart amid war mirrors his own personal unraveling, describing it as "perhaps an act of reparation." Petkova commended director Valentyn Vasyanovych for maintaining "an emancipatory distance" from a project that could have easily collapsed due to the close overlap between cast and crew. In her view, the film successfully creates space to explore "existential crises: of a person, a family, a country and cinema as a whole."[15]

Accolades

Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Toronto International Film Festival September 14, 2025 Platform Prize To the Victory! Won [16]

References

  1. ^ a b c Christopher Vourlias (17 May 2025). "Venice Prizewinner Valentyn Vasyanovych, Rising Talent Antonio Lukich Headline Cannes Slate From Ukraine's ForeFilms (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  2. ^ Vasyanovych, Valentyn (23 July 2025). "To the Victory". Cineuropa. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  3. ^ Kate Erbland (22 July 2025). "TIFF 2025's Auteur-Focused Platform Competition Will Be Juried by Two Rising Filmmakers and Oscar Nominee Marianne Jean-Baptiste". IndieWire. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  4. ^ Katz, David (15 September 2025). "To the Victory! takes home Toronto's Platform Award, whilst Hamnet is the People's Choice champion". Cineuropa. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  5. ^ Serebriakova, Nataliia (18 October 2022). "The new film by Valentyn Vasyanovych, To the Victory!, is in the works". Cineuropa. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  6. ^ Ganne, Valérie (23 May 2023). "Eleven Ukrainian films to receive support from a new European fund". Cineuropa. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  7. ^ González, David (26 June 2024). "Eurimages supports 31 co-productions". Cineuropa. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  8. ^ Christopher Vourlias (6 September 2025). "Toronto Premiere 'To the Victory!' Imagines a Post-War Ukraine Where Hard Work of Rebuilding Has Just Begun". Variety. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  9. ^ "To the Victory!". Toronto International Film Festival. 12 August 2025. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  10. ^ "To the Victory!". Festival du Nouveau Cinéma. 23 September 2025. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
  11. ^ "To the Victory!". Thessaloniki International Film Festival. 23 October 2025. Retrieved 25 October 2025.
  12. ^ "To the Victory!". Palm Springs International Film Festival. 3 December 2025. Retrieved 4 December 2025.
  13. ^ Elsa Keslassy (5 August 2025). "Ukrainian Political Satire 'To the Victory!' Nabbed by Best Friend Forever for World Sales Ahead of Toronto Premiere (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  14. ^ Tyler Ortiz, Roberto (6 September 2025). "To the Victory! Review: Search for Meaning". Loud And Clear. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  15. ^ Petkova, Savina (8 September 2025). "Review: To the Victory!". Cineuropa. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  16. ^ Erbland, Kate (14 September 2025). "Chloé Zhao's 'Hamnet' Wins TIFF People's Choice Award". IndieWire. Retrieved 14 September 2025.

https://filmmakermagazine.com/131717-interview-valentyn-vasyanovych-tiff-2025-to-the-victory/

  • Official website
  • To the Victory! at IMDb 
  • To the Victory! at TIFF
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