DocuDays, an annual international human rights documentary festival, will take place in Kyiv’s House of Cinema (Budynok Kino) on March 21-28.
This year due to the special situation in the country the festival cut down its entertainment program and will give more focus to discussions, lectures, workshops and Q&A sessions.
The competition program will start on March 22. The films will compete in three categories – docu/life, docu/right, docu/short. There is a separate jury and prize pool for each category. All movies will be screened in their original languages with English subtitles. The full program is available at www.docudays.org.ua
Kyiv Post picks 10 must-see films at DocuDays festival.
EuroMaidan. The Rough Cut (Ukraine, 2013)
The festival starts with the chronicle of EuroMaidan Revolution, captured by the number of Ukrainian filmmakers. “This year we have decided not to have an opening film, because all our attention is focused on the changes taking place in our country today,” reads the statement by the organizers. “We have asked the directors who filmed Ukrainian protests to share their best shots with us. The episodes of these upcoming films about EuroMaidan were transformed in a kaleidoscope of revolution.”
March 21, 7 p.m. Budynok Kino, 6 Saksahanskoho St.
Coal Miner’s Day (France, 2013)
The documentary by French Gaël Mocaer features tough, challenging life of Ukrainian coal miners. Mocaer started working on the film in cooperation with photographer Yuri Bilak. It took three years for the director to finish the film in 2013. Mocaer aims to show “airless, lightless, spaceless world of crawling and bowed men,” who work for Bouzhanska coalmine in northwestern Ukraine.
March 22, 3 p.m. Budynok Kino, 6 Saksahanskoho St.
Crepuscule (Ukraine, 2013)
Directed by Ukrainian Valentyn Vasyanovych, the documentary tells a story of 82-year old mother and her blind son, living in Ukrainian province. They struggle with poverty and try to tackle their problems. That’s why the mother decided to buy a calf, while her son starts building a tractor, which may give them a chance to live normally.
March 22, 9 p.m. Budynok Kino, 6 Saksahanskoho St.
Sofia’s Last Ambulance (Bulgaria-Croatia-Germany, 2012)
‘Sofia’s Last Ambulance’ shows an ordinary working day of Krassi, Mila and Plamen, the paramedic crew in Bulgaria’s Sofia. The DocuDays will screen the movie of Bulgarian director Ilian Metev, which was premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012, where it won the inaugural France 4 Visionary Award.
March 23, 4 p.m. Kyiv Cinema, 19 Velyka Vasylkivska St.
Bahrain – The Forbidden Country (France, 2012)
French director Stephanie Lamorre depicts the world of Bahrain citizens gripped by Arab Spring revolution. The country in Persian Gulf with a population of 600,000 is closed to journalists. Lamorre managed to enter Bahrain as a tourist and spent a month filming a group of women involved in opposition activities.
March 23, 5 p.m. Budynok Kino, 6 Saksahanskoho St.
Putin’s Games (Israel-Austria-Germany, 2013)
“Putin’s Games” tracks Russia’s preparation for the Winter Olympics in February 2014. The film questions the wisdom of holding such an event in a subtropical resort with little snow. Oleksandr Gentelev, the director, also focused on Russia’s aggressive lobbying campaign to be awarded the 2014 Winter Olympics.
March 24, 6.30 p.m., Budynok Kino, 6 Saksahanskoho St.
Tales from the Organ Trade (Canada, 2013)
Canadian documentary directed by Emmy-winning filmmaker Ric Esther Bienstock was created in association with HBO Documentary Films, Shaw Media and Canal D. The “Tales from the Organ Trade” film brings to Kyiv screens the murky world of black market organ trafficking.
March 24, 9 p.m. Kinopanorama, 19 Shota Rustavelli St.
SickFuckPeople (Ukraine-Austria, 2013)
A short version of Austrian-funded documentary by Ukrainian director, Yuri Rechinsky was first screened during Molodist film festival in Kyiv in 2013. During DocuDays the visitors will have the chance to watch the whole 75-minute film about a small group of homeless people who are residing in a basement of an apartment building in Odesa.
March 25, 7.30 p.m., Budynok Kino, 6 Saksahanskoho St.
Pussy versus Putin (Russia, 2013)
The film captures the history of Russian Pussy Riot feminist punk rock band, the members of which decided to take the fight to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. Pussy Riot and their supporters are the main characters of the documentary, as directors tracked the band’s actions from the start to its imprisonment: its foundation, rehearsals, recordings, public events, detainment, prosecution and support rallies by the court house.
March 26, 7 p.m. Kinopanorama, 19 Shota Rustavelli St.
Orange Winter (USA, 2006)
A feature documentary by an independent Ukrainian-American filmmaker Andrei Zagdansky aims to refresh one’s memory about presidential elections in Ukraine, which took place in November 2004 and was followed by mass protest, known as the Orange Revolution. The director decided to focus on the human stories of the Orange revolution protests rather than political figures.
March 27, 3.30 p.m., Kinopanorama, 19 Shota Rustavelli St.
