We are ready to announce the six Ukrainian documentary projects that will participate in all-Ukrainian competition “The Guardian comes to Ukraine”. Three of them are going to receive producing and financial support to create their films.
The competition jury has chosen the following projects:
1. Alisa Kovalenko “Alina”
2. Glib Zhavoronkov “The ferry crossing”
3. Svitlana Shymko “Leninopad”
4. Victor Demidov “Furious”
5. Semen Mozgovyi “History of the winter garden”
6. Anna Akulevich “Jamala”
“Alina” by Alisa Kovalenko is a story of 18-year-old football player, a member of young women football team “Ateсks” from Kyiv. The author says that football is probably the only thing that makes this girl happy. The director wants to answer questions why the girls choose to do sports professionaly, how it happens and how our society influences their choices.
“History of the winter garden” by Semen Mozgovyi is a film about the flower pavilion of the former VDNH, the ambivalent feelings to the heritage of the former Soviet Union. Some of the VDNH employees support the space with all their hearts, but the changes come suddenly.
Anna Akulevich describes a documentary about ukrainian singer Jamala as a story of success, a story of a talented musician whose calling has acquired messianic meaning due to difficult political situation in the country. Though for the author it is first of all an “intimate story of a tender woman with an eagle’s heart”.
“Furious” by Victor Demidov is a story of Denys Surkov, a doctor who teaches the military and volunteers to give emergency medical aid in battle. The director says the film is about love, friendship, civic position and saving people’s lives on the battlefield.
“The ferry crossing”, a documentary project by Glib Zhavoronkov, is a film about ferry construction across Danube in Orlivka, Reniyskiy district. This location is a clash between civilisations, nations and cultures. The question is, whether the life of the citizens of this bessarabian village is going to change, who will be the first to cross the river and are the relatives going to meet after 70 years of separation.
Svitlana Shymko describes the “Leninopad” as a film that demonstrates two ways of handling the soviet heritage. Her aim is not to oppose or compare these two ideas, but rather to show the ambiguity of decommunisation process and of the way independent Ukraine is dealing with these ghosts from the past.
The project coordinator will contact all of the finalists to talk over the details of the master-class (23-24 of March) and the pitching (31 of March) during the Docudays UA festival. The jury will choose three winners on the pitching. The Guardian will grant the winner with 5000 pounds. Each one of the other two winners will receive 3000 pounds from Docudays UA and The British Council in Ukraine to produce their documentaries.
Members of the jury are: Roman Bondarchuk (film director, Docudays UA art-director), Charly Philips (Head of Documentaries at The Guardian), Sergiy Bukowskiy (Ukrainian documentalist) and Christine Bardsley (Christine Bardsley, Film Advisor at British Council).
