The wind of change is blowing again in Ukraine. The world’s order is losing its balance, not only locally but also globally. Today, Ukraine is the site of the battle between two systems of values, the East and the West. How this battle will go and how it will end depends to a large extend on what Ukrainians themselves will do. The world focuses its attention on them. Naturally, the key enablers of changes are the young. It is them who will decide about the future of their country. With this in mind, it is interesting to look inside their heads: what they think, what they feel, how they perceive the world around them and their country, their peers. Are they able to carry the weight of change?
As experienced filmmakers (we have been doing this for several years now), we have co-operated with young Ukrainian filmmakers already since 2011. First during the “Kiev from Dawn till Dusk” project, then “Young People About Themselves” project. We try to get to know them and understand them, and as older and more experienced colleagues we try to share our knowledge and skills which we have gained during the transformations in Poland.
While organizing “The World From Dawn Till Dusk” project in different cities in Europe and Asia for the past five years, we have met a great many of young people: Japanese, Chinese, Indians, Russians, Turks, Georgians, Azerbaijanis, Armenians, Belarusians. Some of the most interesting ones were the Ukrainians. We had a great opportunity to enter their reality and learn about their problems. We were impressed with their sensitivity, passion and talent.
The idea for the “Young People About Themselves” project is actually the result of those meetings. We have offered our Ukrainian students to carry out their own, very personal films depicting their peers as the main protagonists - young people standing at the start of their life journey. We wished for deep, personal psychological portraits of the protagonists to be made. We wanted the authors to reach the deep truth about young man by touching all aspects of their lives. In order for such films to be made, it is necessary to find ideas, carry out film documentation, write scripts and make trailers. This whole process was undertaken under the strict artistic supervision. It resulted in 15 interesting scripts describing the problems of the young generation during the turbulent times of the Ukrainian crisis.
The project’s final stage was a presentation of those scripts in Warsaw. This way, we wanted to help our students not only to endow the right artistic form to their work but also to find funds for making and distributing their films in Polish and European television channels and film institutions. By doing so, the young filmmakers have a chance to pursue their aspirations of integrating with Europe.
The results exceeded our expectations. Five films are currently in various stages of development. Some of them are already winning prizes at the most important film festivals It is also a financial success: the project which cost 250 000PLN resulted in making films with a budget of over 2 000 000PLN.
Encouraged by this success, we wish to continue our work on an even wider scale with the “Young People About Ukraine” project.
YOUNG PEOPLE ABOUT UKRAINE is another educational film project being carried out by the Doc'n'World Foundation and it is aimed at young filmmakers from Ukraine giving them an opportunity to make their own documentary films.
As before, we address young people who are about to become adults and who are asking themselves questions typical for adolescents: what is important, how to find your place in the world, what are my perspectives, what are my dreams? Today, these questions are taking on a new meaning for young Ukrainians. How to define yourself in face of the dramatic situation of the fatherland? The choices they make are unusually dramatic – they often put a lot at stake.
We would like them to depict these problems in their films. And see that the characters in their films are presented against the background of the complex situation of today’s Ukraine. We wish for deep, personal psychological portraits of protagonists to be made. We would like the authors to reach the deep truth about mankind by touching every aspect of their lives. We trust that each of those films will be interesting, unique and original.
As in the case of the “Young People About Themselves” project, it will end with a presentation of scripts and trailers, but this time again we will not abandon our students at this stage. We will do our best to make sure that as many of their ideas as possible are made into films presenting the image of modern Ukraine. This way our students will fulfil their professional ambitions of being present in the European media.
As a part of the seminar, young local filmmakers and future participants of the workshops will meet with the artistic tutors - the outstanding Polish documentarians: directors, cinematographers, editors, film theorists: Jacek Bławut, Mirosław Dembiński, Maciej Drygas, Milenia Fiedler, Rafał Listopad, Marcel Łoziński, Wojciech Staroń, Paweł Łoziński, Andrzej Musiał, Jacek Petrycki, Mateusz Werner, Vita Żelakeviciute. Participants will have a chance to learn about the idea behind the project.The invitation will be addressed to the participants of the previous workshops (“Kiev from Dawn till Dusk 2011” and “Young People About Themselves 2014”, as well as to other young filmmakers and all the people who are interested in documentary films.
All eligible participants will have a few weeks to document and prepare their concept for a film about today’s Ukraine. Submissions will be accepted electronically. As a result, a group of 20 students will be selected to participate in the main part of the project.
During the seminar with the tutors, students’ ideas will be analyzed, corrected and expanded. Film crews will be formed – director, cinematographer and producer – which will continue the work on the film documentation of the topics. Tasks will be assigned to the young filmmakers to be completed on their own.
Using the film equipment provided by the Foundation, the crews will work further on the ideas and gather footage for editing the trailers.
As a part of the seminar, besides working on the scripts, the collected material will be analyzed and initial concepts of the trailers will be worked out.
Using the film editing equipment provided by the Foundation, the crews will work further on the editing of the trailers.
During the workshop, the final versions of the scripts and trailers will be made. Students will prepare themselves to present their concepts to an audience. During the pitching, young filmmakers will present their ideas to editors from Polish television and other representatives of film institutions. Personal speeches will be accompanied by screening of the trailers. The presentation will be open to journalists and the public. We expect the pitching to result in actual co-production agreements. This way the main objective of the project will be achieved: production of the films.