Ms. Vroda with her Cannes-2011 award.

Maryna Vroda's feature short "Cross" has been awarded the Palme d'or du court métrage (The Golden Palm for the Best Short) at the 66th Cannes International Film Festival. This is the second time ever that the world's most prestigious film prize recognizes a Ukrainian talent. It is doubly surprising, given the fact that, over the last twenty years, consecutive Ukrainian governments have either neglected, or even hampered the development of Ukrainian national cinema. The 15-minute film is a Ukrainian-French co-production, shot in the environs of Kyiv with an all-Ukrainian cast. It is a penetrating and often shocking portrayal of contemporary youth, whose behavior, language, and values, or rather absence thereof, is a mirror reflection of a deeply ailing society dragged back into the sphere of influence of its former imperial power. The result is a moral ruin, a spiritual wasteland overtaking the national soul.

Maryna Vroda is well-known to those worldwide who take interest in Ukrainian cinema. The Ukrainian Film Club of CU screened her previous feature shorts "The Oath" and "Rain," in New York, Philadelphia, Harvard and Stanford Universities. We are proud to have been the first cine-forum to present her talent to the viewers in North America.

The first Ukrainian laureate of Palm d'or du court metrage at Cannes was Ihor Strembitsky with his "Wayfarers" in 2005. Until now, he has not been given a chance to make another film, either short or feature-length. Maryna Vroda's win comes as a huge inspiration for dozens of young Ukrainian filmmakers who continue to shoot films despite the complete absence of support from their own government and private business.