Konstantin Stepankov

'A Prayer for Hetman Mazepa' unfolds during an interesting era in the history of Eastern Europe when Russia, under Peter the Great, and Sweden, under King Charles XII, struggled for power; the Ukraine was the pawn in the middle. In 1709, Ivan Mazepa, Hetman of Ukraine, which was part of the Russian Empire, signed a pact with the Swedish king promising to support Sweden in its war against Russia provided that the Ukraine was given its independence.

1227, the last night of dying Genghis Khan. With promises and threats tyrant tries to persuade captive Otrar physician Akerke, the widow of the scientist, who was killed by Mongol soldiers, to save his life. But patriotic woman does not want to deliver the oppressor of his people and severely exposes his bloody tyranny of power.

A prosperous and calm life in an instant explodes into a monstrous event, and nothing will ever be the same again. A terrible bleeding scar remains in the soul forever. One fine day, a young and charming archaeologist Alexei, five minutes later a doctor of science, learns that his sibling was buried alive. And the brother’s killer is alive and left unpunished. Blinded by grief, Alex decides to kill ...

According to Ivan Franko's story "Cross Trails". A young lawyer Rafalovich arrives in the provincial town. Here he meets his former sweetheart Regina, with whom he separated from his life. Now she is the wife of a Stalsky official. Love flares up again, destroying the lives of all three.

A completely true story about how a real. live Don Juan comes to a Bukovynsky border town and what happens as a result. In the center 01 the story is the Ukrainian maiden Marichka’s love, which takes place against the background of numerous coup d‘etats during the Second World War.

The series consists of ten films based on love and erotic works of Ukrainian literature from the middle of the 19th century to the present day. The films explore love as a multidimensional phenomenon. This is a kind of retrospective slice of the history of society, culture, and art. There are changes in the attitude towards a woman, mother, lover.

The film takes place in 1659 when Bohdan Khmelnytsky's son Yuri took power from Hetman Vyhovsky. Supporters of Bohdan Khmelnytsky are trying to help his daughter Olena to save her father's regalia - the symbol of Hetman's power and independence of Ukraine.

The story of war veteran Sviatoslav Yavir. He follows the secret train that transports to the Siberia Ukrainian women, including his wife and daughter, repressed by the totalitarian regime.

The love story of the NKVD lieutenant and the connected UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army) on the eve of the end of World War II is a conflict of love and duty. There is a third hero in this story - this is an indifferent employee of the NKVD. For many years, he completely voluntarily helps the OUN-UPA, and waits for who will eventually become the winner, to whom, in the end, he will devote the rest of his life ...

The young, curious journalist Sofia (Olga Sumska) at tragic circumstances meets the investigator Bohdan Mazepa (Ivan Havrylyuk). Soon their paths intersect: Sofia receives the task to write an article about our valorous militia, where that very successful captain having no unsolved cases is to appear as the protagonist. Except for one. What secrets does this case hide and how will fates of Bohdan and Sofia develop, will love be able to survive the frightful truth?

Love triangle revealed during a wedding is set to a backdrop of Ukrainian history and tradition, with questions of honor and faithfulness asked.

At first playfully, and then seriously, the heroine falls in love with her friend's husband, who fights for social justice. Then there will be an arrest, exhausting interrogations of a police officer fascinated by her, involvement in the death of her lover. And that's not all...

In a small Ukrainian village a rumor begins to circulate that the Second Coming is nigh and that the Messiah is already somewhere in the region.

West of Ukraine, 1945. According to the intelligence of the First Ukrainian Front, a special detachment led by Hauptmann Hintze entered the Carpathian region in search of gold for the needs of Germany. In order to get ahead of the enemy, the Chekists recruit a forester. Together with the Chekist Olga, they are supposed to be looking for a place to cut down the forest. In fact, Krapivych is tasked with protecting Olga, who is gathering information about the actions of a German group of saboteurs, which she is hiding in a pursuit squad, and looking for gold ...

Appearance of Coco the Clown and Peach the Pig in the circus is always a happy holiday for children and adults in a small town. But the terrible Chuchelische is ready to do whatever it takes for this celebration to not take place and make children's laughter turn to tears. At this time, the city government is in the hands of insidious Kibernator-General, which decides to close the circus, arrest Coco and make a stuffed out of Peach. Two friends, Kid and Slice, with a good and brave Captain Crocus decide to save Coco and Peach and return the children to the circus.

Film about the painter Mikhail Vrubel's years in Kyiv, from a Sergei Parajanov script.

The screen adaptation of Osip Turyansky's novel "Beyond the boundaries of Pain", which is considered one of the best works, depicting the First World War as a hell through which seven people doomed to death, including the future author of the novel, passed.

Wartime, summer 1941. Train carrying criminals gets under enemy fire and crashed. Out of all of the living are only a young lieutenant of the NKVD and two prisoners - the thief and repressed Communist party worker.

The action takes place in the Ukrainian Carpathians in the First World War. The plot - twists and turns of life's journey of the traveler, adventurer, traveling actor and philosopher Ivan Kalita.

The events take place in the XIX century, in the Carpathian mountains. It is the screen adaptation of the novel by Hnat Khotkevych based on the legend of brave leaders who fought against the Austrian Habsburgs and the Polish magnates for the happiness and freedom of its people. And also it is a romantic story about a fatal overwhelming love.

Wandering minstrel Ashik Kerib falls in love with a rich merchant's daughter, but is spurned by her father and forced to roam the world for a thousand and one nights. Now presumed dead by those he loves, he performs for the poor and unfortunate on his journeys through the wilderness. Parajanov's visually ravishing 'tableaux vivants' tell Lermontov's romantic tale while Turkish and Azerbaijani folk songs transport us into its mystical landscapes.

The plot is based on genuine events: a tendency to abandon subversive activities and surrender of one of the leaders of the Ukrainian counter-revolutionary underground, coroner general Y. Tyutyunnik. The young Chekist Sashko Kovalchuk infiltrates the Kiev counter-revolutionary underground.

Based on Lesya Ukrainka's drama "The Stone Master". Without the permission of the king, in Seville, under the pretext of meeting his fiancée Dolores, returns the disgraced Don Juan, a thunderstorm of husbands and grooms. The loveable protagonist gained fame as a ladies man and a wild tempest of female reputations. But for Don Juan there are no barriers to the desired goal. This time he laid eyes on the lovely Donna Anna. Obsessed with a passion for her, the hero protects her ancestral castle from the Portuguese invading the country ...

The film is a poetic adaptation of a series of stories (oral and written) about Princess Olha of Kyivan Rus' (Ukraine-Rusʹ) at the start of the 11th century. Inspired by chronicles and folk legends this is a story of a common girl Olha who married Prince Ihor and became his successor on the throne after his murder and one of the most remarkable political leaders in early medieval European history. She converted to Christianity and brought her realm into Europe.

A fantasy film on the theme of the early works of Nikolai Gogol, tightly interwoven with his personality and biography.

Leytenant Astakhov is serving in the border where something serious happens almost every day.

In the XIth century Kyivan Rus' (Ukraine-Rus') reached its zenith under the reign of Yaroslav. He established enduring ties with many of the ruling European dynasties, strengthened the borders of Rus' and tried to free it from the influence of the Byzantine Empire. Since 988 the church of Rus' had been autonomous, apart from the right of Constantinople to appoint the Metropolitan.

World War II scattered the Carpathian peasant family of Yaroslava Petrin. She is a dedicated communist, and her husband, son and daughter support OUN-UPA.

The movie set in 1840s Italy under the dominance of Austria, a time of tumultuous revolt and uprisings. The story centers on the life of the protagonist, Arthur Burton, as a member of the Youth movement, and his antagonist, Padre Montanelli. A thread of a tragic relationship between Arthur and his love Gemma simultaneously runs through the story. It is a story of faith, disillusionment, revolution, romance, and heroism.

1920. Russian Civil War. Operation of GubCheka (Soviet police) to destroy one of the bands in Ukraine.

The new reality changes the usual life in the village of Babylon. Attempts to communize the small town are met with resistance from the rich people living in the town. The Red Army finally puts down the resistance. Amidst the resistance philosopher Fabian returns to Babylon and tries to prevent bloodshed, but he meets a tragic fate.

Anatoly Ruchyov is quite a talented guy. One day he decides to enter a prestigious Soviet university — the institute of international relations. But, alas, he overestimates his strength and doesn't achieve his goal. This saddens the young man a little, but he doesn't even think to lower his hands. Anatoly decides to go to military service and reach heights in this area. At first, it is a little lost, but, after the time has elapsed, it is mastered, because there is nowhere to go. Slowly he turns into a real exemplary fighter.

Kyiv. The State Institute of theatre of Karpenko-Kary opens its doors and welcomes new students, future artists: directors, actors, cameramen and script writers.

A third of a series of movies about Kovpak - the partisans chief during WWII.

After school, Victor is in no hurry to determine their future profession. So far, it works where it is necessary, nothing himself not particularly burdened. Unexpected acquaintance with Vera, a woman injured in a car accident that killed her mother, dramatically changes the life of Victor. And love has arisen between the girl gives the power to decide on the fourth and perhaps decisive step

A family drama about life of a few children in Ukraine during thirties.

A second of a series of movies about Kovpak - the partisans chief during WWII.

For several months, the investigation into the robbery of the cashier in the village of Airport. Assistants to the chief of criminal investigation department Mironov managed to find the direct traces leading to the thief-the recidivist Panasyuk serving sentence in a colony for small theft.

A first of a series of movies about Kovpak - the partisans chief during WWII.

Trofim Bessarab has been working as a house painter for all his life. He is a pensioner now and it seems that he can let himself have a rest. But idleness is not for Trofim. His nature is to be a working man and he looks for the way to apply his irrepressible energy, he possesses despite his age.

Based on the novel by Natan Rybak “Soldiers Without Uniforms”. Director of a research institute engaged in research in the field of nuclear physics, Maxim Nerchin is testing a new research method. And although the method did not justify itself, Nerchin with unreasonable confidence began to build a more powerful installation... He uses almost all the institute's funds to create it and is so sure of success that he loudly announced it at a foreign symposium, thereby causing special attention to his institute on the part of those American circles who are primarily interested in creating weapons that bring death and destruction...

This film is based on the classic novel of the same name by writer Ivan Franko, one of the most famous figures of Ukrainian literature. It is set during the 1200s and the invasion of the medieval Ukrainian-Russian state of Rus' by Chengis Khan's Golden Horde. Due to its having been produced during the Soviet era, the story's aspect of class-conflict between the "heroic" peasantry and the "decadent" noble particularly emphasized here.

A family struggles to survive in an area that was claimed as part of Rumania, Poland and the Ukraine, all within a short span of time. When World War II comes, various family members choose different masters; some even choose to work for the Soviets. War, struggle, marriages, births, deaths--all these events punctuate the story of this large family.

Prince Ihor is going to confront the enemy army from the Polovtsian Land. The solar eclipse foreshadows the fateful finale of the battle... Epic in content and stylized as Byzantine icons in form, the animation is inspired by Kyiv myths and the masterpiece of ancient Ukrainian lyrics "The Tale of Ihor's Campaign". The film won a special jury prize at the Nyon (Switzerland) festival.

A participant in the war with the fascist regime, a Soviet soldier Chigorin, who bravely fought in Odessa, decides to return to the black sea city and walk through the memorable places where a lot of blood of brave defenders was shed for every inch of land. On the train, a random companion of the man becomes Katya, a charming young girl who asks Chigorin to tell about those events. Going headfirst into the memories, the former soldier begins his story, in which there is a place for selflessness, friendship, mutual assistance, love and heroism…

This ideologically charged film as a typical sample of Soviet version of history portrays the events in Ukraine in 1921 after the defeat of Ukrainian liberation struggle and the occupation of the country by invading Bolshevik hordes. The Bolsheviks are good guys and Ukrainian rebels refusing to submit to a new, this time Soviet, slavery are portrayed as bandits and brigands fighting against their own people.

The main motive of the film - a tragic love of Lesya Ukrainka to Marxist revolutionary Sergei Merzhinskiy. The film is about the poetess' trip to her beloved, in the literal and metaphorical sense at the same time.

The events of the film cover the story of the Kotsiubynsky family in the years 1912-1918, ending with the defeat of the Central Rada and the establishment of a Soviet republic in Ukraine in the spring of 1918.

This film is a romantic story of love between a Hutsul girl and wounded Soviet guerrilla Andrii whom she rescues from certain death. The events unfold against the backdrop of WW2 presented with many obligatory falsehoods of the imperial Russian historiography: heroic Soviet guerrillas, poor and backward Hutsuls, rich Hutsuls betraying their own people and collaborating with the enemy, Ukrainians incapable of their own agency. Crude and mendacious as it is, this ideology is relegated to the narrative background, and the viewer's attention gets quickly captivated by the artistic fortes of the film: riveting stage presence of Kostiantyn Stepankov, Ivan Mykolaichuk, Boryslav Brondukov and the debuting Ivan Havryliuk; gorgeously atmospheric photography of Mykola Kulchytsky, beautiful faces, language, and dress of the Carpathian Ukrainians, and a faithful presentation of Hultsul folk culture devoid of typically condescending Soviet colonial slant.

The Great Patriotic War. 1945 year. There are fights for the city on the Danube. The river is mined by the Germans, and this fetters the action of our troops. In addition, a city with a million people was left without food. And downstream are Soviet food barges. The command instructs the reconnaissance group a difficult and dangerous operation — to obtain from the enemy a map of the mined sections of the river, which requires penetrating into the city captured by the Germans.

Kaminnyi khrest (Stone Cross, 1968) told the powerful story of a proud farmer who decided to emigrate to Canada during the 1890s. The film captured moments shortly before the farmer set off for his voyage and had to say “good-bye” to his native village, friends and relatives. The internal conflict of the farmer in doubt about his decision became the central focus of the film. Like Vasyl Stefanyk’s novella that inspired it, the film is a meditation on the sense of one’s belonging, the sense of one’s own culture and what it means to abandon it.

The dramatic story of the merchant's daughter, who became a brave fighter of the cavalry squadron of the red Army, later could not find herself in a peaceful life

October 20, 1944, Belgrade was liberated by Red Army and Tito's partisans. But the capital of Yugoslavia is still fraught with danger - retreating aggressor mined the city . A special partisan squad goes into underground maze of tunnels to find and disarm explosives which are still guarded by SS special forces.

Poetic treatment of the early life of Ukrainian poet and painter Taras Shevchenko. A biopic made on the occasion of his 150th anniversary. It dwells on the first part of the Shevchenko's life leading up to the writing of his rebellious poem "A Dream" (A comedy). The film features the first appearance on the silver screen of the iconic Ukrainian actor Ivan Mykolaichuk (as Taras Shevchenko).

A drama about educating homeless children based on the book by Anton Makarenko.

A Soviet era ideological drama based on Nikolai Ostrovsky's famous novel "How Steel Was Tempered".