The Ukrainian National Film Awards were established to promote Ukrainian cinema at both national and international levels, as well as to encourage and support Ukrainian filmmakers and actors.
They were originally named the Golden Dziga Awards after Dziga Vertov, a Soviet pioneer documentary film director whose avant-garde documentary Man with a Movie Camera was mostly shot in Ukraine and produced by the All-Ukrainian Photo Cinema Administration. The name “Dziga” translates loosely from Ukrainian as “spinning top”, which is reflected in the statuette.
The inaugural Ukrainian National Film Awards were held on April 20, 2017 at Fairmont Grand Hotel Kyiv. The long list was made up of 54 nominees selected from 76 entries, including 12 feature films, 15 short films, 19 documentaries, and 8 animated films. The short list included 17 nominees.
The first film to receive the award was The Nest of the Turtledove by Taras Tkachenko that premiered on November 10, 2016. Tkachenko also received a Best Director Award, and Vitaliy Linetskiy and Rimma Zyubina were awarded as the best actor and the best actress, respectively. Linetskiy was awarded posthumously, as he died in 2014, two years prior to the film’s release.
As of 2018, the Ukrainian National Film Awards are presented in the following categories: Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Cinematographer, Best Production Designer, Best Screenwriter, Best Composer, Best Sound Designer, Best Makeup Artist, Best Costume Designer, Best Documentary, Best Animated Film, and Best Short Feature Film. Special awards include Outstanding Contribution Award and Audience Award.
The winners in most categories are selected by all members of the Ukrainian Film Academy by a three-stage vote. Each winner receives a Golden Dziga statuette that symbolizes the fast and steady development of Ukrainian cinema.
In 2020, the event was held online due to the coronavirus pandemic.
