The Eukrainian: Film about war-torn nation’s EU ambitions to be shown at BRIFF

An intimate portrait of a woman in power, The Eukrainian offers an extraordinary insight into Olha Stefanishyna’s leadership as her country attempts to join the European Union and Nato.

Filmed between 2022 and 2024, the documentary’s premiere screening in Belgium is at the BRIFF (Brussels International Film Festival) on 25 June.

Stefanishyna, a specialist in EU law, was only 34 when she was appointed deputy prime minister in charge of Ukraine’s European integration. The film by award-winning Swedish director Viktor Nordenskiöld offers a fascinating glimpse into the inner workings of EU diplomacy amid the country’s efforts to ensure military aid following the invasion in 2022.

For Belgian documentary filmmaker Sergio Ghizzardi of Domino Production, one of the film’s three producers, the focus on a young woman in power, set against the background of the conflict and Ukraine’s accession to the EU made for a compelling narrative.

His own background making movies about the EU, Russia and the energy industry proved invaluable. “I was able to help Viktor to open some of the doors in Brussels as gaining access is getting more and more complicated,” he tells the Bulletin.

Nordenskiöld had proven experience filming powerful female politicians. His previous titles include The Feminister (2019), which traced four years in the career of Sweden’s then foreign minister Margot Wallström. “He is very good at treating the personal and family life of politicians,” points out Ghizzardi.

Some of the most poignant scenes show Stefanishyna’s emotion at being separated from her children when Russia first invades Ukraine. “It was important for Viktor not to overplay this, to get the balance right,” says the producer, who credits the director for building a relationship of trust with his subjects.

Interspersed throughout the documentary are shots of the war. These fleeting scenes without dialogue remind viewers of the daily reality for much of the country’s population and why it seeks closer ties with the west.

The film, though, is largely dedicated to the endless meetings and negotiations following Ukraine’s application for EU membership days after Russia launched its unprovoked attack. Cameras follow Stefanishyna as she meets with officials and fellow politicians during three successive EU council presidencies, including Belgium’s six-month stint in 2024. She is shown forming a particularly close relationship with the latter’s former foreign minister Hadja Lahbib. Meanwhile, there’s no shying away from tension in the bloc, particularly over Hungary’s close rapport with Russia. 

The key challenge to accession is introducing reforms in Ukraine after years of high-level corruption. When President Zelenskyy decides that Stefanishyna should assume the role of Justice minister as well as overseeing enlargement, he is sending a clear message to Brussels “that she is the only person who can deal with the issue,” says Ghizzardi. The film closes after showing Ukraine receiving the green light to formally start negotiations in June 2024.

Stefanishyna originates from the Black Sea city of Odessa, a multicultural community rife with corruption. She credits it for her outward perspective and has devoted much of her career to the deep-seated problem plaguing her country. “When Olha was a young public servant, she was working in the office in the day, demonstrating in the streets in the evening,” adds Ghizzardi.

While offering an empathetic portrait of the Ukrainian politician, the film imparts a strong sense of democracy and the need of a strong European Union, he says. “Thousands of young people in Ukraine are striving for their country with Brussels as their light. Maybe it will help people be proud of all that has been built, step by step in the EU, since the 1950s.”

The screening will be in the presence of the film's director Viktor Nordenskiöld, ambassador Vsevolod Chentsov (head of the mission of Ukraine to the EU), EU commissioner Hadja Lahbib and Sweden's EU minister Jessica Rosencrantz. A Q&A with the audience will follow the screening.

The Eukrainian (Swe/Fr/Ukr/Bel 2025)
25 June 19.00
UGC De Brouckère
Place de Brouckère 38
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