of the 2nd OIFF (2011), Valentyna Klymenko, a film critic for the newspaper "Ukrayina Moloda" ("Young Ukraine"), stated that only Russian subtitles were present in almost all films and noted with regret that it was possible to get headphones with simultaneous Ukrainian translation by "pledging your passport or driver's or journalist's license. Tolerant." Commenting on the 6th OIFF (2015), the director and founder of the Ukrainian Film Club, Professor of Linguistics at Columbia University (USA) Yuri Shevchuk in his article "Odesa International Film Festival: a parade of Russian glamor" in the Telekrytyka magazine explores OIFF strategies, its program, language, and image policy. The author questioned the "Ukrainianness" of the film festival, criticizing the dominance of Russianness in it (Russian-speaking presenters, Russian-language titles in films, etc.) and noted that "only by becoming Ukrainian in form and content, the Odesa Film Festival will finally become truly international." Later, in a comment to Hromadske Radio, Shevchuk noted that “the Odesa festival lacks self-awareness in the non-provincial dimensions. It insists on its Russianness ". He also emphasizes that " the festival has a fantastic potential if it realizes itself as the gateway to the Ukrainian national cinematography. " Remark of the president of the festival about the "civil war in Ukraine" During the opening of the 8th OIFF (2017), OIFF President and Co-Founder Viktoria Tigipko mentioned the "civil war in Ukraine." The reaction of the Ukrainian public to this statement was extremely negative, and later many Ukrainians took to social media to express their indignation at Victoria Tigipko's story to foreign guests of the film festival about the "civil war in Ukraine". Tigipko later stated that her words were "interpreted out of context" and that she was only trying to use terminology familiar to foreign festival guests. Winners References External links Odesa International Film Festival at Facebook Odesa International Film Festival's Channel at YouTube Recurring events established in 2010 History of Odesa 2010 establishments in Ukraine Annual events in Ukraine Summer events in Ukraine