An 85-minute documentary portrait of Olena Voytenko by director Sergei Loznitsa. Premiere 30 June 2026 on ARTE.tv platform.
Documentary 'Voice of Folk: Katya Chilly' (85 minutes) releases on ARTE.tv platform on 30 June 2026. Director — Sergei Loznitsa, also known for documentary work about Taras Topolya (film 'Frontline Frontman' 2026) and other Ukrainian themes. The film resulted from 18 months of work by a French-German-Ukrainian crew in three locations: Kyiv, Carpathians (village of Kryvorivnia), Bergen (Norway). Film structure — 4 'parts': I. 'Childhood in the Carpathians' (1976-1995) — village, first songs from grandmother, formation of ear for authentic folk; II. 'Kyiv: Discovery' (1995-2010) — relocation, first albums, style formation; III. 'World: Expansion' (2010-2024) — WOMAD, European festivals, cultural diplomacy; IV. 'AI Era' (2024-2026) — new experiments with technologies, new understanding of how to preserve authenticity in the digital age. The film contains 8 exclusive interviews: with Voytenko herself (4 hours of footage), with her mother Olena-senior (78 years old, an authentic tradition carrier); Wardruna producers; cultural scholar Taras Lyuty (UCU Lviv); composer Yevhen Stankovych (about the role of ethno music in classical tradition); and AI ethicist Stacey Yung (Harvard, about AI use in arts). The film received an early Berlinale 2026 'Best Music Documentary' award.
