The festival, which aimed to celebrate the resilience and creativity of women in conflict zones around the world, was opened on Thursday 21 November by the Czech and Ukrainian Ambassadors Marie Chatardová and Valeryii Zaluzhnyi.

Visitors enjoyed both short and feature-length films screened at the Czech Embassy Cinema, the Rich Mix Cinema on Bethnal Green Rd and the Festival Hub at Princes Gate, as well as two days of panels and key discussions at the Embassy. The awards ceremony took place on Saturday 23 November at the Rich Mix Cinema. The main organiser of the festival was the Ukrainian-British Association "Talented U" and it was also co-organised by the Embassy of Ukraine. In the United Kingdom.

The festival featured an impressive selection of films, with four titles on the longlist for the 97th Academy Awards – “Death Without Mercy” and “After the Rain” were nominated for Best Documentary, and “La Palisiada” and “Porcelain War” were nominated for Best International Feature. The Czech Republic was represented by "Another Summer - Stories of Exile", co-directed by the Czech Alžběta Kovandová-Bartoníčková and the American David Edwards.

Visitors also had the opportunity to attend two days of panels and discussions at the Embassy. Panels on Thursday 21 focused on how film, cinema and media can counter propaganda, gender issues in conflict zones and how art and film can heal war trauma. The impressive list of speakers included Oscar and BAFTA award-winning filmmaker Olena Andreicheva, British actresses Nicole Ansari-Cox and Victoria Emslie, Czech war journalist Markéta Kutilová and Czech filmmaker Alžběta Kovandová-Bartoníčková.

The panels on Friday 22nd then reflected the latest trends and best practices in the film industry and featured renowned names of British and international film as Liyana Mansoor, Verity Wislocki or Amy Foster.

The festival concluded with an awards ceremony on Saturday 23rd celebrating outstanding achievements across categories:

Best Documentary Feature Film:

Porcelain War (USA\Australia\Ukraine, dir. Brendan Bellomo & Slava Leontyev)

Best Feature Film:

La Palisiada (Ukraine, dir. Philip Sotnychenko)

Best Short Film:

Sally, Get the Potatoes (USA, dir. Danicah Waldo)

Best Director:

La Palisiada – Directed by Philip Sotnychenko (Ukraine)

Audience Choice Award:

Porcelain War (USA\Australia\Ukraine, dir. Brendan Bellomo & Slava Leontyev)

Women of Global Impact Award:

Waad Al-Kateab (For Sama, Death Without Mercy Syria/UK)

Best TV Feature Film:

Military Chaplains: Pray in Hell (Ukraine, dir, Olena Kryvenko)

Best Short TV Film:

Eva Haller: A Work in Progress (USA, dir.Jeanne Meyers)

Best Experimental Short Film:

RYTA RAY – Frequency of Love (Ukraine, dir. Nikita Kvasnikov)

Best Performance:

Kynlee Heiman (Sally, Get the Potatoes, USA)