The jury of the national competition CIVIL PITCH: Civil Activism Films have awarded prizes to the winners.

As a result of the pitching on March 28, during Docudays UA 2018, the jury chose four projects among the program participants. Each of the winning projects received $5,500. The funds for producing these short documentaries were provided by the USAID/ENGAGE activity, which is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Pact in Ukraine.

1. 'UFO RESCUE MISSION' by the director Oleksiy Radynski and the activist Oleksandr Burlaka (#savekyivmodernism movement).

2. 'NO STATUS. UKRAINE' by the director Dmytro Tiazhlov and activist Kateryna Babich ("No Borders" project).

3. 'SHUT THE FUCK UP!' by the director Taisiya Kutuzova and the activist Yelizaveta Sokurenko (NGO Human Rights Information Center).

4. 'BEHIND THE KITCHEN DOOR' by the director Yulia Kochetova-Nabozhniak and the activist Natalya Dorofeyeva (CO "UCO 'Legalife Ukraine'”).

Taisiya Kutuzova and Yelizaveta Sokurenko

“It’s incredible that these projects didn’t even exist as recently as two weeks ago. That filmmakers and activists exist each in their own worlds and rarely cross paths,” says Roman Bondarchuk, a member of the competition jury. “And it is also incredible that for me personally some topics presented by the participants were absolute discoveries, and they made me want to engage these topics myself. In the end, although we have selected only four projects as winners, all of them had a great opportunity to meet renowned professionals of the European film industry and receive consultations about their projects.”

Dmytro Tiazhlov and Kateryna Babich

CIVIL PITCH: Civil Activism Films was launched to unite civil sector activists and documentary filmmakers with the aim to create films that would facilitate social change.

Yulia Kochetova-Nabozhniak and Natalya Dorofeyeva

Docudays UA received around 90 applications for this competition from all over Ukraine and selected 16 participants. In March, they attended two workshops and presented their stories at a pitching.

Oleksiy Radynski

Read more about CIVIL PITCH: Civil Activism Films here.

CIVIL PITCH: Civil Activism Films is co-organized by the USAID/ENGAGE activity, which is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Pact in Ukraine; Goethe-Institut in Ukraine; Docudays UA.

CIVIL PITCH: Civil Activism Films partner is Kyiv-Mohyla Business School

Photo: Docudays UA-2018