Nice Ladies (Mariia Ponomarova, 2025)

Dir. Mariia Ponomarova, Ukraine/Netherlands, 2024. 91
Curated by Natalia Guevataya; presented with a recorded introduction by director Mariia Ponomarova

Presented by The Belmont Cinema in Partnership with Samizdat Eastern European Film Festival

Summary

Nice Ladies is the debut feature-length documentary by Ukrainian filmmaker Mariia Ponomarova. Originally conceived as a portrait of women over 50 defying ageism, sexism, and societal expectations, the film transformed during production in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Following a team of twelve cheerleaders with extraordinary care and sensitivity, Nice Ladies emerges as a powerful feminist manifesto at the intersection of war, displacement, gender roles, and social pressures.

These women come from diverse backgrounds – a former gymnast, an engineer, a university teacher, a homemaker… Twice a week, they gather to perfect joyful, youthful routines in preparation for the European Cheerleading Championship. For them, cheerleading is more than a hobby: it is a space of agency, visibility, solidarity, and belonging.

The full-scale invasion poses a challenge to the team’s cohesion. While one core member flees with her family to the Netherlands, others remain in Kharkiv, confronting bombardments and the daily realities of war. Despite the separation, the women strive to fight for their team, their friendship, and unity, seeking to maintain connection, trust, and support for one another.

Ponomarova’s intimate lens captures humour, tenderness, and determination, revealing how collective passion and performance can become acts of survival, solidarity, and resistance. Nice Ladies is both a moving portrait of extraordinary women and a testament to resilience in the face of war and societal stigmas

Rating: 12A

Content notes: war, loss, grief, air raid sirens

Access notes: loud sounds

Wheelchair accessible | English subtitles | Pay-what-you-can tickets (£2–12)

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Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Citymoves Dance Agency SCIO, Shoe Lane, Aberdeen, United Kingdom