Stanislav Bytiutskyi
THE CITY
After the war ends, 25-year-old Stepan arrives in Kyiv to conquer the city and its club scene. But memories of occupation and captivity haunt him every night, making it impossible to escape his past.
SYNOPSIS
Ukraine is recovering after the war. Thousands of mentally and physically scarred people move to Kyiv in search of work and a new life. Among them is 25-year-old Stepan Radchenko. Before the invasion, he was a rising star in the electronic music scene of his native Kherson. Afterward, he endured Russian occupation and captivity. In Kyiv, he gets a job at a company organizing the city’s biggest raves. At first, he struggles with loneliness and failure in the big city, but soon, he finds his rhythm. His work pays off, and he rises through the ranks. The legendary K11 club introduces him to Kyiv’s vibrant nightlife. Seeing the status musicians and DJs enjoy, he starts producing his own electronic music and quickly gains recognition. Stepan also climbs the city’s social ladder through relationships with three different women. First, there’s Nadya, a small-town girl. Then Toma, a respectable city dweller. Finally, Zosia, a self-sufficient and liberated woman. As he moves from one romance to another, his living situation changes too—he progresses from a cramped room in an old district to a sleek apartment in the city’s modern center. Step by step, Stepan sheds his provincial roots and becomes a successful city dweller. But when he reaches the top, he feels no happiness. The trauma of war remains an open wound. Nightmares of his captivity haunt him, first in his sleep, then during the day.
DIRECTOR
Stanislav Bytiutskyi
PRODUCER
Dmytro Sukhanov
PRODUCTION COMPANY
Toy Cinema
CO-PRODUCTION COMPANY
Gogol Film
COUNTRIES
Ukraine, Poland
Stanislav Bytiutskyi
Born in 1984 in Kyiv, Stanislav Bytiutskyi graduated from Kyiv National I. K. Karpenko-Karyi Theatre, Cinema and Television University and Kyiv Civil Engineering Institute. He began his career as a film critic, publishing articles on cinema and culture in Ukrainian and international periodicals. He curated gallery and festival programs, including Cinema after the War at Pinchuk Art Center, Eastern Europe’s largest contemporary art hub, and film programs at the Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Centre, Ukraine’s main film archive. Currently, he serves as the program coordinator for the Kyiv Critics’ Week film festival. Bytiutskyi made his directorial debut in 2014. His unique style merges chamber, intimate storytelling with socio-cultural themes, capturing the mood, anxieties, and hopes of contemporary society. His documentary Goodbye, Cinephiles (Molodist IFF, 2014) explores Ukrainian collective memory post-Revolution of Dignity through the lives of three young cinephiles. In 2016, his film 24 premiered at Odesa IFF, portraying young refugees from Eastern Ukraine born in 1991, the year of Ukraine’s independence. It won the Kyiv International Short Film Festival’s top prize in 2017 and was recognized as the best short film of the year by the National Union of Cinematographers of Ukraine. His 2017 experimental film Tomorrow You'll Definitely Get Better was the first Odesa IFF national competition entry shot entirely on a mobile phone in vertical format. In 2019, he directed Intolerance, a historical thriller about a woman condemned for witchcraft in 19th-century Polesia. It premiered at Odesa IFF 2020, won the Kinokolo Award for Best Short Film, and screened at numerous festivals worldwide. In 2023, he completed The End of Story, a film about a couple on the brink of separation. This marks the beginning of his exploration of relationship crises, with its festival run starting at the end of the year.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
Our film is a modern adaptation of The City, the cult novel by Valerian Pidmohylny, which has shaped generations of Ukrainians. Written in the 1920s, it follows a protagonist scarred by captivity and war, navigating a Kyiv still bearing its wounds. We transport the novel’s events a century forward, into a near future—the first years after the Russo-Ukrainian war. Instead of literary circles, we immerse our characters in Kyiv’s rave and electronic music scene. The film’s energy mirrors the city’s—eclectic and fast-paced. Our camera is deeply physical, focusing on faces, gestures, and body language. At times, this intimacy becomes sensual, charged with desire. The sounds of the city and the rave blend with breath, whispers, and kisses. The mood of The City is one of feigned lightness, gradually pierced by pain. Euphoria gives way to unease and fear. Because even when the war is over, despite the thrill of peace, we will spend years healing from our wounds.
Dmytro Sukhanov
Dmytro started his career in film production in 1995, working initially in post-production and line producing before gradually advancing to become the head of production in biggest production service company in Ukraine for that time. In 2003, he co-founded Toy Pictures and became its executive producer. The company primarily provided services, but in 2015, it launched Toy Cinema, a brand that produces TV series, documentaries, and supports emerging filmmakers in their debut feature films. Dmytro is also a co-founder of the Film Industry Association of Ukraine and holds an MBA degree. In 2020, he graduated from the EAVE Producers program, member of ACE Network from 2023 and European Producers Club. In 2024 participated in Producer On The Move.
PRODUCER’S STATEMENT
The City project is deeply personal to me. I grew up in the urban landscape of Donetsk, building my career from the age of 17 without parental support and with significant gaps in my "school of life." My eldest son is now 13, and I see that today's youth face even harsher challenges—amid shifting notions of security, economic crises, and social and political instability. The film portrays a post-war society where resilient yet psychologically scarred young people struggle to rediscover themselves. It explores the painful journey of growth, confronting fears and traumas, and accepting them to move forward. This reality will soon shape Ukraine and the European countries that welcomed Ukrainian refugees. Based on Valerian Pidmohylny’s novel, the script by Stanislav Bytiutskyi modernizes the story, reflecting a post-war Kyiv we all anticipate. Supported by Ukraine’s State Film Agency in 2021, funding was frozen but we aim to begin production in 2026, completing late develop and financing.
Production company profile
The Kyiv based company Toy Pictures was established in 2003 mostly focused on production servicing of different formats in Ukraine for foreign crews as Line Producer. Several feature films, documentary and tv series are in filmography of line and executive producing brought company for need to open another LLC - TOY CINEMA for financing and producing its own IP, long format content already based on solo ownership of Dmytro Sukhanov in 2014, when after revolution of dignity has pushed for opened transparent calls for financing of independent Ukrainian films and international co-production.
Where are we at?
TOTAL ESTIMATED BUDGET
505.644,38 €
FINANCES PENDING
225.000 €
FINANCING IN PLACE
281 752,75 €
Production timeline
2025 / Development and financing (development and minority)
2026 / 1st call Eurimages application
May 2026 / Pre-production
August - September 2026 / Production period
November 2026 / Edit lock
February 2027 / Final cut with sound and color
April 2027 / Deliveries