Feature film · Visual effects · Made during the war

U Are the Universe

Golden Dzyga 2026 for Best Special Effects. Finished through blackouts, evacuation and the full-scale invasion.
WinnerBest Special EffectsGolden Dzyga 2026Ukrainian Film Academy9 Golden DzygasIncluding Best FilmOfficial SelectionWorld PremiereTIFF 2024WinnerOctopus d'OrStrasbourg 2024WinnerAsteroide AwardTrieste 2024WinnerGrand PrixOdesa IFF 2025

U Are the Universe, the feature debut of Pavlo Ostrikov, is the story of Andriy Melnyk, a Ukrainian space trucker who becomes the last person in the universe after Earth explodes, until a call comes from Catherine on a distant space station. For our team it became more than a film: the first Ukrainian science fiction feature of this scale, which we made as its main VFX and CG vendor while Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine was going on around us.

Made during the war

The war broke into our production process. Principal photography had two stages: the first ended in early January 2022, and the second was interrupted by the full-scale Russian invasion. The shoot was completed only in December 2022, and a large part of the work still lay ahead, especially the CGI. The war put at risk not only the deadlines and the quality we were aiming for, but the very possibility of finishing the film.

A classic production process turned into daily crisis management under constant blackouts and danger. At one point some of our people had to evacuate, and some went to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Every day was a quest: how do we finish this film at all? Volunteers moved our render farms so that the work would not stop.

Every frame demanded exceptional dedication in conditions that were never normal for a production. We focused our main resources on the key shots that would become the face of the film. Every day the choice was not between good and average, but between getting it done and not getting it done at all.

Making of: building the ship set
Making of: zero gravity in the cockpit set

Despite everything, all of us believed in this project and worried about how it would look on the big screen. In July 2026 the Ukrainian Film Academy gave our team the Golden Dzyga for Best Special Effects, one of the nine awards U Are the Universe won that night, including Best Film.

The making of

The full making-of from the set: the people who built the ship, filmed it and carried it into space. In Ukrainian.

Making of U Are the Universe, 2 min 58 s, with sound
Ukrainian voice synthesized with AI with the speakers' consent

On set

Making of: the camera crane and the robot set
Making of: on the monitors

We got the project thanks to a test scene that we made with all our heart: science fiction was exactly the field where we wanted to prove ourselves. From the first shooting day the film was built as one mechanism. Our VFX supervisors stayed on set throughout the shoot, working closely with director Pavlo Ostrikov and director of photography Mykyta Kuzmenko, so that every visual element fitted the overall concept, where space reflects the emotional state of the characters.

The spaceship interior was built as a full physical set in the studio: the cockpit with its control panels, the pilot seat and the robot Maxim. Green screens behind the portholes left room for the space that our team would add later.

Every effects shot was planned before the camera rolled: where the green screen stands behind the portholes, how the light in the cockpit falls so that the space added later matches it, and what the robot Maxim needs on set so that our team can give him his emotions in CG.

The camera crane moved through the set and around the robot, and the takes were checked on the monitors right on the floor. So the frames that reached post-production were already shot for the visual effects.

The spaceship set under construction in the studioFilming in the cockpit of the spaceship setThe camera team at the cockpit controlsThe control panels of the cockpit setThe robot and the pilot seat on setThe crew working on the robotTalking through the robot sceneRehearsing a scene in the cockpitA camera rig inside the ship setThe crew in the cockpit between takesThe cockpit set before a takeA take on the monitor
Photos: set photography, U Are the Universe

Building space from scratch

We created space from scratch. Every model, from the cargo ship Obriy to the last planet, was built by our team. For close-ups there were often simply no textures of cinematic quality, so we made them ourselves, and that is a big part of what makes the look of the film its own.

The hardest part of working with space is not only scale and light, but imperfection. The real world is never perfect: if a 3D ship looks factory clean, the audience will not believe it. So every model got scratches, micrometeorite erosion and dust.

The beauty of space, the Obriy, the explosion of Earth, Calypso and the other planets, the emotions of the robot Maxim and many small details that let the audience stay with the story: this is the work of our team. For us the best CG is the CG you do not notice.

The ship grew step by step: first renders of its corridors to find the look, then the full CG model of the Obriy with its textures, lights and wear, ready for every angle the story needed. The same care went into Calypso and the other planets: each had to feel like a real place, not a picture in the background, with light that matches the scenes shot in the studio.

Shots from our VFX work on the film
Making of: from the first renders to the CG model of the ship
The cargo ship in open spaceThe ship passing a cratered moonThe ship ring in close-upThe ship above a cratered surfaceA gas giant and the tiny shipThe ship and a distant planetAn asteroid field lit by a distant starPlanetary rings and a moon
Frames from our VFX shots

Awards and nominations

U Are the Universe premiered at TIFF in September 2024 and has since won 32 awards, from festivals across Europe to the Golden Dzyga of the Ukrainian Film Academy.

Wins

Golden Dzyga 2026Best FilmUkrainian Film AcademyGolden Dzyga 2026Best DirectorPavlo OstrikovGolden Dzyga 2026Best ScreenplayPavlo OstrikovGolden Dzyga 2026Best ActorVolodymyr KravchukGolden Dzyga 2026Best Special EffectsOur VFX teamGolden Dzyga 2026Best MusicMykyta MoiseievGolden Dzyga 2026Best EditingIvan BannikovGolden Dzyga 2026Best Production DesignOdudenko, DenysenkoGolden Dzyga 2026Best SoundSerhii StepanskyiGolden Dzyga 2026Audience AwardMEGOGOEurocon 2026Best Dramatic PresentationEuropean Science Fiction SocietyStrasbourg 2024Octopus d'OrBest International FilmStrasbourg 2024Méliès d'ArgentEuropean Fantastic Film FestivalTrieste 2024Asteroide AwardScience+Fiction FestivalTrieste 2024Audience AwardScience+Fiction FestivalTrieste 2024Event Horizon AwardScience+Fiction FestivalParis 2024Œil d'OrPIFFFParis 2024Ciné+ Frisson AwardPIFFFCottbus 2024Best DirectorFilmFestival CottbusCottbus 2024Audience AwardFilmFestival CottbusThessaloniki 2024Best ActorVolodymyr KravchukOdesa 2025Grand PrixOdesa International Film FestivalLyon 2025Grand PrizeHallucinations CollectivesLyon 2025Young Jury PrizeHallucinations CollectivesHaapsalu 2025Grand PrixBest Feature FilmNeuchâtel 2025Youth AwardNIFFFNeuchâtel 2025RTS Audience AwardNIFFFFuture Gate 2025Best International FilmSci-Fi Film FestivalKinokolo 2025Best FilmNational Film Critics AwardKinokolo 2025Best ActorVolodymyr KravchukKinokolo 2025Best ScreenplayPavlo OstrikovKinokolo 2025Discovery of the YearPavlo Ostrikov

Nominations

The film received 12 Golden Dzyga nominations in 2026, more than any other film that year, and won nine of them. The other three:

Golden Dzyga 2026Best CinematographyMykyta KuzmenkoGolden Dzyga 2026Best Costume DesignMariia KeroGolden Dzyga 2026Best Make-upMariia Pilunska

Official selections

Official SelectionTIFF2024 · World Premiere · DiscoveryOfficial SelectionFantastic Fest2024Official SelectionSitges2024Official SelectionLeeds IFF2024Official SelectionTallinn Black Nights2024Official SelectionRed Sea IFF2024Official SelectionRevelation Perth2024Official SelectiongoEast2025Official SelectionCrossing Europe2025Official SelectionHof IFF2025Official SelectionSeattle IFF2025Official SelectionCalgary Underground2025
Asteroide Award for U Are the Universe at Trieste Science+Fiction Festival 2024
Asteroide Award, Trieste Science+Fiction Festival 2024. Photo: Trieste Science+Fiction Festival

Credits

Written and directed byPavlo Ostrikov
ProducersVolodymyr Yatsenko
Anna Yatsenko
ProductionForeFilms
Stenola Productions
Director of photographyMykyta Kuzmenko
CastVolodymyr Kravchuk
Alexia Depicker
Daria Plahtiy
Leonid Popadko
CountriesUkraine, Belgium
Running time101 min
World premiereToronto International Film Festival
7 September 2024
In cinemas in UkraineFrom 20 November 2025
With the support ofUkrainian State Film Agency
Main VFX and CG vendorUMP Studio
VFX SupervisorOleksandr Suprunovskyi
On-set VFX Supervisor
VFX ProducerOleksii Hapon
VFX ProducerAntonina Patramanska
3D SupervisorMaksym Holovin
Golden Dzyga 2026 · Best Special EffectsOleksii Hapon, Antonina Patramanska, Oleksandr Suprunovskyi, Yurii Bondarenko, Maksym Holovin

Space for your next film

Planning a science fiction feature, a story set in space or a film with large-scale CG? Talk to UMP Studio about visual effects for your next film.