This summer Docudays UA is going to show hits of the 2016 festival in Ukrainian cinemas. The heroes of these films are average people seeking change. These films illustrate the capacities of their “inner engine”, and are one more proof that this world still stands thanks to people who care. The four films will tell stories about a pastor from Mariupol, Grinpeace founders, sheriffs from Ukrainian village Stara Zubrivka, and shadow North Korea.
DOCU/HIT is a new festival project that plans on becoming full documentary distributor in Ukraine.
“The whole time Docudays UA existed the viewers kept asking when and where they can see the festival films again. What to do if they want to share with friends or go to the cinema with their families to watch a wise and deep film. This year we have considered these wishes and started a festival distribution DOCU/HIT. From now on, we are going to show our documentaries in the cinemas of the country. These stories are festival favourites, according to proffesionals as well as to the viewers,” - says Daria Averchenko, Docudays UA PR-director.
The four hit films of this year’s festival will be shown in Ukrainian cities. The films are: “Under the sun” by Vitaly Mansky, “Ukrainian sheriffs” by Roman Bondarchuk, “Almost holy” by Steve Hoover and “How to change the world” by Jerry Rothwell.
Though creative documentary is becoming very poplar among viewers, we have almost no distribution outside the festival. The directors can count on one or two screenings per year.
“The film about a boxer Klitschko or a singer Vakarchuk appears, and it is screened. But there is no opportunity to go and watch a documentary in a cinema on weekend. Ukrainian television is not interested too: they think that the viewer is not mature enough for non-fiction films. That is a mistake according to Docudays UA experience. I am convinced that we should use every opportunity for the screenings to get people interested in the genre. The more viewers - the more new films to come,” - says Roman Bondarchuk, “Ukrainian Sheriffs” director.
His film will also be available in cinemas. It is a story about self-organization of a community in difficult times. Two sheriffs from Stara Zburiivka don’t wait for the police or rescue units to come and help their fellow villagers solve all kinds of problems. The film got one of the most prestigious awards - Special Jury Award of a famous European film forum IDFA
The opening Docudays UA film “Under the sun” by Vitaly Mansky has summoned enormous lines twice during the festival. To get the permission to shoot in one of the most isolated countries of the world he had to shoot according to previously approved script. Local party members didn’t know though that they were actually doing a favour to Mansky.
Catching and honest “How to change the world” tells about an initiative born thanks to few enthusiasts. In 1971, a group of friends sailed into a nuclear test zone, and their protest captured the world’s imagination, giving birth to Greenpeace and defining the modern green movement.
“Almost holy” is real thriller. The hero of this film is a priest and a local civic leader Hennadiy Mokhnenko from Mariupol. He made a name for himself by forcibly abducting homeless drug-addicted kids from the streets of his city. In the meantime this home for homeless has evolved into Pilgrim Republic living by it’s own laws.
2 to 16th of June DOCU/HIT with film directors and heroes is going to visit Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Mariupol. 22 to 29 of August the project will take place in Odessa. All the films will be screened with subtitles. The schedule look on the project web site docuhit.org.
