Andrea Slováková for Ukraine

Festival „Docudays“ 

Thanks to the professionally organized "Docudays" Festival, I met more than 20 Ukrainian directors and documentary filmmakers who have just finished their films or are at various stages of preparations. The festival manages to show the Ukrainian documentary scene as extremely diverse (thematically and aesthetically), changing and living. Most of the directors who presented their upcoming movies were from the youngest generation. It's beautiful to see their different and clear perspectives (one movie is politically engaged, another intimately personal, another approaches the characters and yet another watches them impartially). At the same time, however, it is frightening to witness the issues and conditions faced by documentarists in contemporary Ukraine in particular due to the war in the eastern part of the country. The war is present in many films but besides that, the documentary filmmakers deal with other features of their society, too. They clearly have a critical attitude and an analytical insight. I had a sense that the International Documentary Film Festival in Jihlava was well respected by the local community. The directors and producers praised the program of our festival. In most cases, we discussed the possibilities of presenting their films or their participation in one of the programs for film professionals which would help them develop their idea, produce their film or co-finance the post-production etc. We also talked about Ukrainian literature and the awareness of Ukrainian writers, which in the Czech context was strengthened mainly by the  "Větrné mlýny" publishing house. I got to know the creators of new and upcoming films, and I'm sure I'll see many more. What pleased me the most, however, was that something was really going on in the Ukrainian documentary. In addition to the prominent creators of the older generation, there is a strong young generation of directors who have been affected by horrific events and who perceive the everyday life critically and are inspired by various film styles.  

Kyiv 2019