The Oleksandr Dovzhenko State Prize of Ukraine () is a state award honoring individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the development of Ukrainian cinema. It is named after acclaimed Soviet Ukrainian film director and screenwriter Oleksandr Dovzhenko, who was among the world's top filmmakers and a major figure of the Soviet film industry. The award was established on 10 September 1994 by Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Dovzhenko's birth. Award decisions are made by the Committee for the Oleksandr Dovzhenko State Prize of Ukraine—a group of eleven leading figures in the country's cinema appointed by either the government of Ukraine or the Committee's chair. Committee members serve on a voluntary basis to review prize submissions, identify exceptional works of Ukrainian cinema, and select the prize's recipient(s). Their selection is sent to the Ukrainian president, who officially grants the award and designates its cash amount by 10 September through a presidential decree. As a state award, the prize is the highest national recognition for cinema in Ukraine.
Any individual or creative team is eligible for the prize, with there being no nationality restrictions. For teams, the award submission cannot exceed five people and must comprise the group's most important contributors. Individuals may receive the prize more than once, provided that at least five years have passed since their last award and that they have made new outstanding achievements in cinematography since then. A person also cannot have nominations for two or more works open at the same time. Submissions are made by various institutions and organizations to the award committee annually by 1 June, after which the committee votes on narrowing down the best works and ultimately selecting the final awardee(s) by 15 August, when the president receives the committee's selection. Laureates of the prize receive three rewards: a diploma, medal, and cash prize.
Since the prize was first awarded in 1995, 45 individuals have been officially given the prize, including three who were awarded posthumously. Two additional individuals, director and cinematographer , were selected by the award committee for the prize in 2010 (marked with italics in the table below) together with composer Volodymyr Huba for their film but were not officially awarded the prize due to the required presidential decree not being signed. For Huba, he was later officially given the award as the sole laureate for 2014 in recognition of his overall career and contributions to Ukrainian cinema. No individual has yet officially received the prize more than once, although Huba remains the sole person to have won the competition (i.e. be selected by the award committee) twice: in 2014 and in 2010's unawarded prize. In addition to 2010, there have been six years in which the prize was not awarded: 1997, 2000, 2013, 2018, 2020, and 2023.
List of laureates
+ YearLaureateProfession/honorificsRationale 1995 actor for his outstanding contribution to the development of cinematography1996 director and producer for a significant contribution to the development of domestic cinema1997 No award given1998 director-producer for their outstanding creative contribution to the creation of the feature film Moskal-Charivnyk cinematographer actor actor actress1999 scriptwriter and director-producer for their outstanding creative contribution to the creation of the feature film Chasing Two Hares cinematographer-producer actor actress actress2000 No award given2001 director for his personal creative contribution to the development of domestic cinema2002 director for a significant contribution to the development of domestic cinema2003 People's Artist of the USSR for his great contribution to the development of domestic cinema2004 scriptwriter and director-producer for their outstanding creative contribution to the creation of the feature film Mamay cinematographer composer actress actor2005 film director, cinematographer, People's Artist of Ukraine for his outstanding contribution to the development of domestic cinema2006 cinematographer, film director, People's Artist of Ukraine, Corresponding Member of the Academy of Arts of Ukraine for his outstanding contribution to the development of domestic cinema2007 film director, actor, screenwriter, Honored Artist of Ukraine, Corresponding Member of the Academy of Arts of Ukraine for his outstanding contribution to the development of Ukrainian cinema2008 film scholar, film critic, author of the book Oleksandr Dovzhenko: The Death of the Gods. Identification of the Author in the National Time and Space for his outstanding contribution to the development of Ukrainian cinema2009 film director, screenwriter, Honored Artist of Ukraine for his outstanding contribution to the development of Ukrainian cinema2010 director for the creation of the film cinematographer composer2011 film director, Honored Artist of Ukraine, People's Artist of Ukraine for their outstanding contribution to the development of Ukrainian cinema film director, laureate of the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine, academician of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, People's Artist of Ukraine2012 theater and film actor, Hero of Ukraine, People's Artist of Ukraine, laureate of the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine, academician of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine for his outstanding contribution to the development of Ukrainian cinema2013 At the award committee's meeting on 24 July 2013, it was decided to consider the prize unawarded for 2013.2014 composer, People's Artist of Ukraine, laureate of the , member of the National Union of Composers of Ukraine and the National Union of Cinematographers of Ukraine for his outstanding contribution to the development of Ukrainian cinematography2015 author of the script, director and producer creators of the full-length feature film The Tribe […] for their outstanding contribution to the development of Ukrainian cinema director of photography2016 film director of the documentary historical and biographical film project for his outstanding contribution to the development of Ukrainian cinema2017 People's Artist of Ukraine, laureate of the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine, Hero of Ukraine for her outstanding contribution to the development of Ukrainian cinema2018 In the award committee's final vote held on 24 July 2018, none of the submissions received enough votes to be awarded the prize.2019 film director for the creation of the feature-length film Donbass (2018)2020 No award given2021 film director and screenwriter for her outstanding contribution to the development of Ukrainian cinema2022 film director for his outstanding contribution to the development of Ukrainian cinema2023 No award given2024 film director and screenwriter for his outstanding contribution to the development of Ukrainian cinema2025 director and screenwriter for the creation of the full-length feature film actor actress2026 director for the creation of the full-length documentary film Songs of Slow Burning Earth camera operator camera operator camera operator composer
See also List of Ukrainian State Prizes List of film awards
Notes
References
External links
Ukrainian State Film Agency