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Poster image featuring text and illustration. TUFF Toronto Ukrainian Film Festival. Celebrating contemporary Ukrainian film. Presented in partnership with St. Volodymyr Institute. Below the text, an abstract illustration - in yellows, blues and whites - of a landscape by the water, a white orb rising over the horizon line.
Poster image featuring text and illustration. TUFF Toronto Ukrainian Film Festival. Celebrating contemporary Ukrainian film. Presented in partnership with St. Volodymyr Institute. Below the text, an abstract illustration - in yellows, blues and whites - of a landscape by the water, a white orb rising over the horizon line.

Celebrating Ukrainian cinema Celebrating Ukrainian cinema

in Canada with an annual festival featuring the work of award-winning filmmakers.

Home Events Art Toronto Ukrainian Film Festival 2025

Toronto Ukrainian Film Festival 2025

Celebrating Ukrainian cinema in Canada

From Oscar short-listed documentary, to rebellious youth in 1990, to family-friendly animated fun, the Toronto Ukrainian Film Festival (TUFF) presents its third annual festival from Thursday, April 24 to Sunday, April 27, 2025 at the Royal Cinema. Featuring a lineup of remarkable films and documentaries, this year’s festival once again showcases a full range of powerful recent work by award-winning, contemporary filmmakers.

“It’s no coincidence that our third festival launch aligns with the three-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Remarkably, there are powerful and important films still being made by Ukrainians, in all genres, but the many things we’re losing in this conflict include some of the world’s most talented storytellers. The creative future is at great risk, for so many around the world. Together through TUFF we will celebrate and stand up for Ukraine, in Canada, uniting together around the power of film.”

– Roman Lysiak, TUFF founder

The Toronto Ukrainian Film Festival (TUFF) is a non-profit film festival celebrating contemporary Ukrainian cinema on the world stage. Showcasing acclaimed and emerging films from Cannes, Sundance and TIFF, it fosters Ukrainian-Canadian collaborations and new opportunities for filmmakers. Founded in 2023 by Roman Lysiak, TUFF highlights stories of bravery, love, compassion and resistance through the power of film. All proceeds from TUFF 2025 go to Second Front Ukraine Foundation and the humanitarian work of Canada-Ukraine Foundation.

During the festival, TUFF will partner with Toronto’s St. Volodymyr Institute (SVI) to present guest speakers and ancillary programming, with more details to be announced. Keep checking the TUFF website for updates.

In the 1990s, a group of teens, two boys and two girls, hang out on a sofa, serious expressions on their faces.

(Photo credits: Toronto Ukrainian Film Festival. Still from Forever-Forever, directed by Anna Buryachkova. Photo by Lena Chekhaovska.)

Poster image for Victor Robot, featuring an illustration of a large round robot holding a girl aloft in his hands, while other smaller robots look on and another robot peers out from a manhole cover in the centre. Above the title, a tiny robot with large eyes, its right fist raised, has shot up from below and hovers over them.

(Photo credits: Toronto Ukrainian Film Festival. Viktor Robot, directed by Anatoliy Lavrenishyn.)

Close-up of a wall of a building, damaged by war, with a small painted porcelain owl - the top right side of its head missing, sits in a hole in the concrete under exposed rebars.

(Photo credits: Toronto Ukrainian Film Festival. Still from Porcelain War, directed by Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev.)

Event details

Hosted by: Toronto Ukrainian Film Festival (TUFF)

Type of event: film festival

Schedule: All films include English subtitles. See the 2025 program here.

  • Thursday, April 24 @ 7:00 PM ET: Under the Volcano. Stranded in Tenerife as war erupts back home, a Ukrainian family faces isolation, fear and buried tensions in this gripping drama from award-winning director Damian Kocur. (2024 Drama, 102 minutes, Ukrainian/English with English subtitles)
  • Friday, April 25 @ 6:00 PM ET: Viktor. A Deaf man in war-torn Kharkiv dreams of becoming a warrior but is denied at every turn. This striking documentary blends intimate storytelling with immersive sound design to reflect his world. Directed by Olivier Sarbil. (2024 Documentary, 91 minutes, Ukrainian/Russian with English subtitles)
  • Friday, April 25 @ 9:00 PM ET: The Glass House. When her daughter vanishes under suspicious circumstances, a perfectionist architect must confront harsh truths – and seek help from the ex-husband she left behind. Directed by Taras Dron. (2023 Drama, 99 minutes, Ukrainian with English subtitles)
  • Saturday, April 26 @ 2:00 PM ET: U Are the Universe. After Earth’s destruction, a lone Ukrainian space trucker embarks on a cosmic journey to find the only other survivor – an elusive French woman on a distant space station. Directed by Pavlo Ostrikov. (2024 Sci-Fi/Drama, 90 minutes, Ukrainian/French with English subtitles)
  • Saturday, April 26 @ 5:00 PM ET: Forever-Forever. Set in late 1990s Kyiv, Forever-Forever is a raw portrait of a group of rebellious youth thrust into adulthood too soon, navigating the wreckage of the Soviet regime. Directed by Anna Buryachkova. (2023 Drama, 107 minutes, Ukrainian with English subtitles)
  • Saturday, April 26 @ 9:00 PM ET: Scream of My Blood: A Gogol Bordello Story. The electrifying rise of Gogol Bordello’s Eugene Hütz – from his immigrant roots to punk rock fame and his defiant return to Ukraine during the war. Directed by Nate Pommer and Eric Weinrib. (2023 Documentary, 99 minutes, English/Ukrainian with English subtitles).
  • Sunday, April 27 @ 11:00 AM ET: Viktor Robot. In the distant future, Vika and her tiny robot companion embark on a thrilling quest to rescue Vika’s grandfather and restore the artificial star that powers their universe. As they face obstacles along the way, their journey transforms from a simple mission into a powerful story of friendship, empathy and teamwork. Directed by Anatoliy Lavrenishyn. (2020 Animated Family Adventure, 75 minutes, Ukrainian with English subtitles).
  • Sunday, April 27, 1:30 PM ET: A Picture to Remember. A deeply personal essay film tracing a Ukrainian family’s experience of war and loss in Donbas through the lens of three generations of women, offering a haunting reflection on memory and survival. Directed by Olga Chernykh. (2023 Documentary, 72 minutes, Russian/Ukrainian with English subtitles)
  • Sunday, April 27 @ 4:30 PM ET: Porcelain War. Winner of Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize, this stunning documentary follows three Ukrainian artists who stay behind, wielding their art, cameras and guns to fight for their homeland. Directed by Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev. (2024 Documentary, 87 minutes, Ukrainian with English subtitles)

Cost: Individual screening tickets are C$22.00, with C$14.00 tickets available for Viktor Robot for guests 14 years and younger.

Location: The Royal Cinema, 608 College Street, Toronto, ON, M6G 1B4, Canada.

Trailers: Watch the individual film trailers here.

Booking link: Book your tickets here by clicking on the “Buy Tickets” button of the film you wish to see.

Contact Details: Toronto Ukrainian Film Festival; admin@tuff.film, tuff.film

 

Content warning: Please refer to the individual film synopses for info on content.

Accessibility: Royal Cinema location and accessibility info here. You can also read about TUFF’s accessibility info in their FAQ.

Refund policy: Please contact the organizer.