NEWS
September 2026 · Grand Hotel Pylypets
Max Sir International Film Festival 2026
CULTJ, September 2026
Cinema in the Heart of the Carpathians — Max Sir International Film Festival 2026
A recap of the two festival days at Grand Hotel Pylypets: finalist screenings, a Ukrainian filmmakers' block, a screenplay session and the grand final of Ms&Mrs Art Ukraine 2026.
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Sumy Media, September 2026
Cinema in the Heart of the Carpathians — Max Sir International Film Festival 2026
A report on the festival's 2026 edition: 21 finalists in short fiction, feature, documentary and AI-film categories, a screenwriters' segment, and the main prize going to Reiff Gaskell's "Cuerpos".
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CULTJ, Autumn 2026 — Cover Story
Creativity Born of Limits: What Ukrainian Cinema Tells the World in Wartime
Ukrainian and international filmmakers at the festival's panel discussion on working with tiny budgets under constant danger — and why Ukrainian stories need audiences abroad.
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Banosh, September 2026
Film, Art and Ukrainian Culture: Max Sir International Film Festival Comes to Zakarpattia
An announcement of the festival's 2026 edition on September 12–13 at Grand Hotel Pylypets, with competitions for fiction, documentary and AI-generated films, a screenwriting block and a showcase of Ukrainian directors.
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Sumy Media, September 2026
Max Sir International Film Festival Heads to the Carpathians
A preview of the 2026 edition at Grand Hotel Pylypets — competitions for fiction, documentary and AI-generated films, a screenwriting block, a Ukrainian showcase, and the Ms&Mrs Art Ukraine final with a national-dress parade by Vyshyte.
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CULTJ, September 2026
Max Sir International Film Festival Comes to the Carpathians
The official press release for the 2026 edition: film competitions, a new screenplay showcase, a Ukrainian directors' block and the grand final of Ms&Mrs Art Ukraine.
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Since 2022
Press Coverage
Banosh, September 2025
Film Festival Premiere: Max Sir's "Dreams of Ukraine" Painting Unveiled in Uzhhorod
A report on the public premiere of Ensoñaciones de Ucrania on the MSIFF red carpet at Uzhhorod Castle, noting that the painting had already been chosen by Ukrposhta for an official postage stamp.
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Mukachevo.net, September 2025
World-Renowned Chilean Artist to Present His Work at the Uzhhorod Film Festival
A preview announcing Max Sir's exhibition at MSIFF, introducing him to a regional audience as a Chilean painter and director with a long-standing connection to Ukraine.
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G5noticias, February 2025
"La Forma del Tiempo": Max Sir and Claudio Bravo's Bestiary Arrives at Sala Viña
Coverage of the exhibition announcement, with critic Justo Pastor Mellado describing Max Sir's homecoming to Viña del Mar after his years in Ukraine as a symbolic "rite of return" for the city's diaspora.
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Zakarpattia Regional Culture Department, September 2025
The Max Sir International Film Festival Arrived in Uzhhorod
An official recap from the regional culture authority, covering the exhibition, the panel discussion "The Role of Art in Ukraine Today," and the festival's guests — including the leadership of the Zakarpattia Academy of Culture and Arts.
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Varosh, September 2025
Cinema, Art and the Red Carpet at Uzhhorod Castle
A preview of the festival day ahead, covering both the film screenings and the accompanying exhibition where Ensoñaciones de Ucrania would have its public debut.
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Varosh, August 2025
Max Sir International Film Festival to Take Place in Uzhhorod for the First Time
Director Yevheniia Kolesnykova tells the story of the festival — from its origins in Costa Rica after the Kakhovka dam disaster, through Lviv, to its first edition in Uzhhorod Castle, where Max Sir would unveil a new painting and an official Ukrposhta stamp.
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Banosh, September 2025
The Max Sir International Film Festival Took Place in Uzhhorod Castle
A report from the festival's premiere day — the panel discussion on art in wartime Ukraine, the red carpet, the "Inspired by Zakarpattia" exhibition, and the Miss & Mrs Zakarpattia finalists presenting the artists' work.
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Banosh, August 2025
From Costa Rica to Uzhhorod: Director Yevheniia Kolesnykova on the Festival's History
A long-form interview tracing the festival from a small idea born in Costa Rica to an event with more than 10,000 filmmaking groups worldwide aware of its name — including the "Cinema in Schools" program and the festival's growing social mission.
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Sumy Media, 2025
Max Sir Presents the Most Powerful Collection of His Career
A feature on Max Sir's expanding body of work, with critics predicting the new paintings developed alongside Ensoñaciones de Ucrania will become defining works of 21st-century figurative art.
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Sumy Media, 2025
Silence, Matter and Duration — the Series Confirming Max Sir's Status
Art critic Mila Bass and art historian Oleksandr Bezsonov discuss the Carpathian series that grew out of Ensoñaciones de Ucrania, calling it a metaphysical, manifesto-like body of work that places Max Sir among the most influential artists of his generation.
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La Región Hoy, February 2025
"Recovering the Manual Experience of Drawing as a Way of Inhabiting the Present"
An extended interview around "La Forma del Tiempo," in which Max Sir discusses figuration versus photorealism, his years in Ukraine, and drawing as a deliberate, unhurried ritual in an age of instant image-making.
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Espacio Cultural Viña del Mar, February 2025
Catalogue: "La Forma del Tiempo" — Max Sir and Claudio Bravo
The exhibition catalogue, with an essay by critic Justo Pastor Mellado situating Max Sir's return to his native Viña del Mar after years in Ukraine, and his dialogue with Bravo's legacy of figurative drawing.
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Corporación Cultural de Viña del Mar
Espacio Cultural Viña del Mar, February 2025
Exhibition Listing: "La Forma del Tiempo" — Claudio Bravo and Max Sir
The official event listing for the exhibition's opening on February 20, 2025, at Sala Viña del Mar — a dialogue between Bravo's and Max Sir's drawing practices exploring art, memory, and ritual.
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Ужгородський замок
Zakarpattia Regional Museum, Uzhhorod Castle, September 2025
Max Sir International Film Festival at Uzhhorod Castle
The museum's own account of hosting the festival, noting its growth from 3,000 filmmakers in Costa Rica to over 6,000 across 160+ countries, and the exhibition staged alongside it in the castle halls.
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Portal Educa
Portal Educa, February 2025
"La Forma del Tiempo": Max Sir and Claudio Bravo's Bestiary Arrives at Sala Viña
A syndicated report on the Viña del Mar exhibition, reaching a wider Chilean readership with the story of Max Sir's return to his hometown and his dialogue with Claudio Bravo's work.
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Zakarpattia Online, September 2025
Uzhhorod Castle Becomes the Stage for an International Film Festival
A photo report from the festival day at Uzhhorod Castle, combining film, painting and music — from the opening discussion on art in today's Ukraine to screenings of new films, including works made with artificial intelligence.
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CK Life / StopCor, November 2024
"Cinema in Schools" — a New Educational Project for Ukrainian Students
Coverage of the festival's schools program, aiming to reach 100 schools across Ukraine with free screenings and smartphone filmmaking workshops for children.
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CK Life
CK Life / StopCor, September 2025
Max Sir Presents "Dreams of Ukraine" at Uzhhorod Castle
A report on the premiere of Ensoñaciones de Ucrania, describing it as a painting born from Max Sir's own long relationship with the country.
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CK Life
CK Life / StopCor, January 2025
Max Sir in Chile: How Ukrainian Culture Shaped the Artist's Work
A feature ahead of the Sala Viña del Mar exhibition alongside Claudio Bravo, on how Max Sir's years in Lviv inspired works that bring Ukrainian folk crafts into contemporary art.
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Sokal Voice, September 2024
The Max Sir International Film Festival Took Place in Lviv
A recap of the festival's second edition at the Lviv Palace of Arts, which drew a full house, announced its category winners, and opened Max Sir's "Metamorphosis" exhibition.
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Dyvys.info, August 2024
An International Film Festival Will Take Place in Lviv
An event announcement for the festival's Lviv edition during Ukrainian Cinema Days, featuring an exhibition of Max Sir's paintings inspired by the years he spent living and working in the city.
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Vysokyi Zamok, August 2024
Charity Film Festival at the Lviv Palace of Arts
An announcement of the festival's Lviv edition during Ukrainian Cinema Days — screenings of winning short films and an exhibition of Max Sir's paintings, with proceeds going to the 13th National Guard Brigade "Khartiia".
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Banosh, December 2025
Cinema That Inspires: Filmmakers Visit the First Kramatorsk Lyceum in Perechyn
The festival's "Cinema in Schools" project opens a new season at a lyceum relocated from Donetsk region — a talk on filmmaking, animated works, a lesson on shooting stories with an ordinary phone, and a photo contest for students.
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Kyiv Lyceum №42, February 2025
Cinema at School — a Space for Inspiration and Learning
A school's own report on hosting the festival's "Cinema in Schools" program, including a smartphone filmmaking workshop for students in grades 5–11 led by director Yevheniia Kolesnykova.
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R.I.O. Zakarpattia, August 2025
Max Sir International Film Festival to Take Place in Uzhhorod for the First Time
A regional weekly's syndication of the festival announcement, reaching Zakarpattia readers ahead of the September premiere at Uzhhorod Castle.
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Népszava, September 2022
Nemzettől függetlenül ("Regardless of Nation")
A review of Max Sir's charity exhibition at the Cervantes Institute in Budapest, held soon after he fled Lviv at the outbreak of the war — with proceeds from sales directed to humanitarian aid for Ukraine.
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kultúra.hu
kultúra.hu, September 2022
A Chilean Artist Who Fled Ukraine Opens a Charity Exhibition at the Cervantes Institute
Coverage of "The Creation of a Symbolic Work," Max Sir's first exhibition after leaving Lviv, with a companion film by Yevheniia Kolesnykova documenting the making of the paintings.
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Instituto Cervantes
Instituto Cervantes, Budapest, September 2022
Max Sir: La creación de una obra simbólica
The official listing for the exhibition, co-presented with the Embassy of Ukraine — 30 paintings made between 2021 and 2022, with a guided tour by the artist at the opening.
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FilmFreeway
FilmFreeway
Max Sir International Film Festival — Official Profile
The festival's listing on the world's leading film-submission platform, where thousands of directors from over 160 countries have discovered and entered the festival each year.
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Вікіпедія
Ukrainian Wikipedia
Max Sir International Film Festival
The festival's Wikipedia entry, documenting its history from its founding in Costa Rica through its editions in Lviv and Uzhhorod.
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An exclusive interview for "PravDA" TV program (in Ukrainian)Budapest, 2022
"Looking for a mirror" — the exhibition opening(SUB ENGLISH)
Budapest, 2022
Budapest, 2022
Interview about the documentary that won first award in PragueHungary–Ukraine, 2022
Interview for Ukrainian TV program "Гостьовий вечір"Poland–Hungary, 2022
Interview for the media marathonHungary–Ukraine, 2022
Max Sir, author of the comic «Гамлет»Lviv, 2020
The process of making a painting in the studio, with modelLviv, 2019
"ALICE by Max Sir" — exhibition of paintingsEmbassy of Chile in London, 2018
Impressions on Alice — tour of exhibitionsFeatured: Embassy of Chile in London, Salon d’Art Contemporain at Carrousel du Louvre (Paris), Latin Art Gallery (Prague)
"Masters of Crafts", UATV ChannelExtract of the episode featuring Graphic Novel work by Max Sir with Ukrainian Assembly Comics publishing house
"HAMLET by Max Sir" — theatre play music videoRecorded during the presentation at Kit Gavatovycha Festival, Lem Station, Lviv, 2018
Exhibition opening — "Alice on the Threshold"An exhibition of paintings by Max Sir, part of the series ALICE, touring Europe 2017–18
Prague, Czech Republic
Prague, Czech Republic
The Voices of Sor Juana Inés de la CruzAn exhibition of paintings by Max Sir — IDB Gallery
Washington, DC — USA
Washington, DC — USA
Interview with cultural criticism magazine Revista SangríaNew York City — USA
Reportage — NTA TV Channel"HAMLET by Max Sir" — Play, Graphic Novel
Process of rehearsals for the play Hamlet by Max Sir
Ukraine, 2018
Process of rehearsals for the play Hamlet by Max Sir
Ukraine, 2018
Interview with UPLA TV — Journalist: Danilo AhumadaValparaíso, Chile
Reportage — SYLA News"HAMLET by Max Sir" — Play, Graphic Novel
Reportage on the process of rehearsals for Hamlet by Max Sir
Ukraine, 2018
Reportage on the process of rehearsals for Hamlet by Max Sir
Ukraine, 2018
TV show "Good Morning Lviv"«Добрий ранок»: Постановка "Гамлета" Шекспіра очима чилійських режисерів
Shakespeare’s Hamlet from the eyes of Chilean directors
Lviv, Ukraine — 2018
Shakespeare’s Hamlet from the eyes of Chilean directors
Lviv, Ukraine — 2018
Play — Alice, by Max SirWorld premiere, February 2017
Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Max Sir on "Hable con Gloria" — exhibition AliceLondon, 2018
Press — ALICE, Costa Rica
