Ukrainian VR Film Shelter Wins 2026 Webby Award for Immersive Storytelling

The Ukrainian virtual reality film “Shelter” won a 2026 Webby Award in the Apps, Software, and Immersive Science and Education category, the film’s PR representative Mariia Kravchenko reported on April 21.

The project is a 360-degree VR documentary created as a co-production between Ukraine, the Netherlands, and Belgium. The film was co-directed by Ukrainian film producer Ivanna Khitsinska and Dutch filmmaker Sjoerd Swierstra. It was produced by Justin Karten from the Netherlands-based Scopic Lab, a Virtual Reality Studio, Bram Crols from Belgium, the Associate Director, and Khitsinska’s WAYA Production.

Filmed across Ukraine in 2024, “Shelter” provides an intimate look at life during wartime through the space of bomb shelters. The film immerses viewers in locations where people hide from shelling, give birth, listen to music, prepare for battle, and say goodbye to loved ones.

Scenes range from an underground maternity ward in Kyiv to a defender’s funeral in Lviv, and from frontline military preparations to a basement opera performance in Kharkiv.

“This award is an important international recognition not only of the film itself but also of the presence of Ukrainian creators in the field of immersive storytelling,” Khitsinska stated. “Shelter demonstrates how modern technologies can become a tool for deep documentary expression about war, loss, endurance, and human intimacy.”

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The Webby Awards, founded in 1996 and judged by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS), is considered one of the most prestigious international honors in digital media and is often referred to as the “Oscar of the internet.” This year’s laureates include globally recognized figures and entities such as Lionel Messi, Lady Gaga, Google Gemini, and NASA, highlighting the international scale of the award won by the Ukrainian film.

Before its Webby victory, “Shelter” had an extensive international festival run. It premiered at SXSW in Austin, Texas, in 2025, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Award. The film held its European premiere at the Krakow Film Festival in Poland and received a Special Mention at the Ji. hlava International Documentary Film Festival in the Czech Republic later that year.

The Webby Award for “Shelter” follows previous selections of other Ukrainian wartime films at major global festivals. The Toronto International Film Festival had announced earlier that it would screen “A Simple Soldier,” a documentary following a Ukrainian cinematographer fighting on the frontlines.

The festival would also feature Valentyn Vasyanovych’s post-war dystopian film “To Victory!” as Ukrainian directors continue using international platforms to present the realities and consequences of the Russian invasion.

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