As always, the most important programs of Ducudays UA are competitive ones: UA DOCU/RIGHT, DOCU/LIFE and DOCU/SHORT. 

14 full-length and 15 short films of this year’s competition are the most powerful, carefully compiled set of the hit documentary films. Many of them have already won over the hearts of picky audience and jury at the prestigious international festivals, including Cannes, Rotterdam, Leipzig, Karlovy Vary, Sundance, and HotDocs, but for some Docudays UA in Ukraine will be their first destination at the world festival map.

We are particularly proud of the two Ukrainian films that will compete for the DOCU/SHORT prize on par with other participants.

DOCU/RIGHT. This year the seven must-see full-length films of this competition represent Egypt, Argentina, Lithuania, Germany, Iceland, Estonia and Finland. Under the spotlight are the lives of countries that have made or are still making their choice.

DOCU/LIFE. Seven incredible full-length films, selected from the most prestigious European film festivals. Romania, Canada, Georgia, Lithuania, Latvia, Serbia and Poland are the countries participating in this year’s DOCU/LIFE contest. The directors know firsthand how to make a real hit out of low-budget projects. These are personal stories: from the comical side of relationships between a filmmaker and his subjects, to a real catharsis after an intimate conversation.

DOCU/SHORT. The 15 short films of this year’s DOCU/SHORT competition are very different at first glance.They are geographically very diverse: from Congo to Ukraine, from Australia to China. Someare having their world premieres, others are recognized participants of prestigious festivals. They vary in length from 10 to 45 minutes. But they all havesomething in common: simple stories of simple people which we will never forget.

Docudays UA was never a place for just passive film-viewing. Life of the films goes on after the credits roll when their creators go up on stage to meet the audience. Substantial discussions will unfold due to efforts of our talented moderators Maksym Butkevych, Kseniya Kharchenko, and Iryna Tantsiura.