Nominated for Best British Short Film
Following the outbreak of war, an elderly Ukrainian refugee gets stopped by Customs while trying to bring a jar of Ukrainian soil into the UK.
About the Director
Lada Kopytova is an award-winning Ukrainian-British writer and director, currently based in London. Lada’s most recent short, BLUEPRINT, received Best Emerging Filmmaker award at Canadian Screen Award-qualifying Courts D'Un Soir, was a nominee at various BAFTA/BIFA qualifying festivals, screened at BFI Future Film Festival 2025 and many others. It is currently available on BIFA-qualifying Minute Shorts and Girls In Film platforms.
Lada’s upcoming short satire, THE PITCH, in currently in development as part of lab: Displaced Women Pitch, where she has been mentored by writer-director Peter Webber, NOWNESS Managing Director Gavin Humpries, past Sundance
Programmer Katie Metcalfe, and others. Lada was included in 75 Filmmakers To Watch in 2024 list by Women X Film Festival, and was featured in ELLE Ukraine, Director’s Notes, and The New Current. Lada was a mentee of development producer Lucas Fothergill as part of Screencraft Works Cross-Border Mentoring programme 2025, she is also Sally Potter’s current assistant. Lada is currently developing her debut feature about her experience with cancer.
Aside from film, Lada is also a co-founder and resident artist of a Ukrainian female art collective TRiYKA, hosting art exhibitions and charity pop-ups in London and raising money for Ukraine.
Details
| Film Category: | British |
| Runtime: | 11 Mins |
| Director: | Lada Kopytova |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Writer: | Lada Kopytova |
| Producer: | Lisa Kochanova, Joseph Bushell, Kostiantyn Bidnenko |
| Key Cast: | Olena Khokhlatkina, Oksana Zhdanova, Diana Zamojska |
| Language: | English, Polish, Ukrainian |
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