
VADIM MOCHALOV | UKRAINE | 2026 | 17 MIN | RUSSIAN + UKRAINIAN EST
VADIM MOCHALOV | UKRAINE | 2026 | 17 MIN | RUSSIAN + UKRAINIAN EST
Subtitles: English
While waiting for the Molodist Film Festival selection results, queer filmmaker and recent graduate Tim moves through Kyiv, encountering friends, relatives and colleagues who also became part of his thirty-minute thesis film.
Vadim Mochalov is a Ukrainian director, screenwriter and producer based in Kyiv. He studied at Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts, directing his bachelor's thesis film The Return in 2023 and his master's film The Story in 2025. His work has screened at festivals including SUNNY BUNNY, Mykolaichuk Open, Wiz-Art, Riga 2ANNAS, GAZE and Mezipatra. In 2026, he completed Giant, his first short outside film school, about a queer filmmaking graduate awaiting a festival selection decision.
The foundation for Giant is rooted in my experience directing my bachelor's thesis film. […] It seemed like my chance to build the community I had struggled to find amidst the pandemic, the full-scale war, and my own insecurities regarding my queer identity. […] In Giant, I wanted to portray the story of a young queer director who, through encounters with friends and colleagues in Kyiv, realizes that cinema won't make him less lonely, but it will fulfill him in a different way.
Vadim Mochalov, Diana Nazaruk
Vadim Mochalov
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