Odessa International Film Festival is created with the mission to support and to encourage the development of art and industry of cinema on the territory of Ukraine.

The international competition includes films from all over the world, mostly international or national premieres, for the most demanding and passionate viewers. The film selection is focused on so-called “art mainstream”, or the films possessing a refined artistic quality, yet accessible to the broadest possible audience. For Odessa International Film Festival, viewers are the main focus and, from 2012 and on, the festival jury, since the Grand-Prix is awarded by audience. International Jury awards winners in the Best Film, Best Acting and Best Director categories. Other non-competition sections include retrospectives, tributes, collections of the newest films from different countries and festival hits.

Program:

International competition program - full-length features of high artistic quality aimed at reaching wide audience (“art mainstream”).
National competition program - feature-length and short films Ukrainian production or co-production.
Non-competition - sections Gala Premieres, Festival of Festivals, Russian Film Week, personal and thematic retrospectives , gala screenings, special open-air screenings and other events, approved by the Festival’s Board of Directors.
Film Industry Office - a 4- day program of presentations, panel discussions, roundtables and pitching, aimed at creating a communication platform for international and Ukrainian film industry professionals, the development of Ukrainian film production and distribution, as well as promoting co-production with Ukraine.
Film Market - a 4- day program of events organized for Ukrainian companies - distributors, cinemas representatives, studios and other film distribution companies. Presentations of all distributors in Ukraine as well as companies offering services for cinemas are held within the Film Market.
Summer Film School - special education project within the Odessa International Film Festival, which consists of a series of master classes and creative meetings with the masters of the world film industry - famous actors, directors, scriptwriters, film critics and producers.

Grand-prix — €10000
Best film — €5000
Best director — €3000
Best acting — €2000
Special Jury prizes

Films eligible for submission to the International Competition are feature-length films completed after 1st January 2021. The film participating in International Competition should not be released or premiered in Ukraine preceding the Festival.
Films of any length and genre produced in Ukraine or co-produced with Ukrainecompleted after 1st January 2021 may be submitted for the National Competition.
Films eligible for submission to the European Documentary Competition are feature-length documantaries completed after 1st January 2021 produced or co-produced with companies that made the largest investments from such countries as Ukraine, Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Poland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, Israel, Austria, Finland, Norway, Ireland, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Iceland, Greece, Russia, Croatia, Estonia, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Republic of Belarus, Portugal, Turkey, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Georgia, Armenia, Lithuania, Cyprus, Albania, Kosovo.