For the first time in September, the 17th Traveling International Documentary Film Festival on Human Rights Docudays UA started in a hybrid format. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the most interesting human rights documentaries will be seen in more than 200 cities and towns of Ukraine. Traditionally, Traveling Docudays UA will last until the end of December and visit 21region of Ukraine.

Through the Teen Spirit topic, this year’s festival contemplates how young people’s voices can be heard in discussions of social issues; whether children can be viewed not only as objects of protection but also as individuals with rights; how, in a situation of an armed conflict, the government can counteract violence against and exploitation of children, realize their rights to education and development; and whether the process of growing up is limited to the challenges of adolescence.

The short films in the DOCU/SHORT selection present experimental observations and studies of the Ukrainian reality. In Circulation by Oleksiy Radynski, which was awarded a special mention at Docudays UA 2020, a suburban train transforms into a track for a camera dolly, recording the transformations of a Kyiv landscape. A Friday’s Monday by Ivanna Prokopchuk shows day-to-day life, cramped relationships, and the gendered communication of a modern Ukrainian family. The phenomenon of the swamp and one of Ukraine’s largest swamp systems, Zamglai, is explored in the film Zong by Elias Parvulesco, Teta Tsybulnyk, Svitlana Pototska.

The DOCU/KIDS programme presents three stories where, instead of fairytale superheroes, we meet ordinary kids from all over the world. Dear Darkness is the story of 12-year-old Frida, who is almost blind. But in her dreams, all the images clear up – so she can “see” what is hidden for others. Karla & Nordahl documents the life of 6-year-old Karla and her big brother Nordahl, who has learning difficulties. Bird Boy is a new film by Simon Lereng Wilmont, who directed The Distant Barking of Dogs, last year’s student jury favorite and an Oscar nominee.

The human rights component is represented by the All-Ukrainian Campaign Against Cyberbullying, whose goal is to reduce cases of cyberbullying by informing the society and advocating for changes to the government’s human rights policies.

In addition to online and offline events and film screenings in the regions, the DOCUSPACE online cinema will also work as a part of the Travelling Festival. From August until December, you will have a chance to watch 5 festival hits on docuspace.org; each of them will be in open access for a month: Pure Art, Jawline, Honeyland, The Brink, and Eye to Eye. The problems contemplated by these films will become topics for a discussion series both in the regions and on the Docudays UA YouTube channel, DOCUSPACE, and Docudays UA Facebook page.

The festival’s partners in the Ukrainian regions are 44 youth and human rights organizations and 305 Docudays UA human rights media education film clubs. You can find more details on the programme of regional screenings on the official website of the Travelling Docudays UA Festival – travelling.docudays.ua.

Traditionally, the festival adheres to the principle of accessibility for the audience, so all films have adapted subtitles in Ukrainian (except for the DOCU/UKRAINE and DOKU/KIDS programmes). These are subtitles with special markings, symbols, and added text which reflect the film’s sound and allow people with hearing impairments to get immersed in the film’s atmosphere and follow its content.

The mission of the Traveling Festival also remains the same - to create opportunities for everyone in Ukraine to watch talented and relevant human rights documentaries from all over the world. The event forms an active civil position and respect for human dignity, supports the development of the Ukrainian film industry.

Important! The Festival is non-political and non-commercial.

THE PROGRAM OF THE FESTIVAL IN ZAKARPATTIA IS AVAILABLE HERE!

The Docudays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival is supported by the Embassy of Sweden and the Goethe-Institut. In Zakarpattia, the partners of the festival are the NGO "Carpathian Agency for Human Rights "Vested "and the Charitable organization "Medical Aid Committee in Zakarpattia", as well as co-organizers: Department of Education of Uzhhorod City Council, NGO "Insider Education Center", Faculty of Law of Uzhhorod National University, Law Clinic of UzhNU, Student self-government of Uzhhorod, F. Potushnyak Transcarpathian Regional Universal Scientific Library.

Photo: A. Semenyuk (Uzhhorod Press Club)