To help teenagers become the conscious audience and take their first steps in the world of documentary filmmaking as part of the traditional DOCU/CAMP programme, we have prepared a training course DOCU/START. DOCU/START is a guide to filmmaking careers, film genres, and film platforms. It will also be a place to discuss and watch the best films from the DOCU/YOUNG programme of previous years. As well as a space where teenagers will learn to analyse films and their own lives.

The documentary is a unique territory of respect and interest in the experience of others. This is a medium that helps us to see the world, which, for one reason or another, is invisible to us. A world of inaccessible professions and social statuses, minorities we do not belong to, life roles that are not yet available to us, intimate circumstances that we would never have seen if the director had not filmed it for us. At the same time, the documentary is the latest trend of internet reality. You can use it to get thousands of views, get listed in recommendations sections, or play with public opinion. Of course, to do this, you need to tell an unconventional story in an unusual way. We will focus on these aspects during the DOCU/START programme. 

The DOCU/START programme will be held offline.

The course will help to: 

• Get acquainted with the nature and history of documentary 
• Move from expressing subjective impressions about the film to its analysis
• Try on filmmaking occupations
• Develop empathy, sensitivity, and curiosity to the lives and stories of others
• Draw a roadmap of the documentary production process

We will look for answers to the following questions:

• What is the difference between a documentary and a feature film? Can streams, broadcasts, and TikTok videos be considered documentary genres?
• What is the difference between a festival film and a film made for YouTube? 
• Does cinema inform us or manipulate us?
• Who is the film protagonist and how to find it?
• Do films have a structure? What is the difference between structures of feature films and documentaries?
• Are there any taboos in documentaries?
• What is more important in a documentary: a "beautiful picture" or the undisguised truth of life?
• What filmmaking occupations exist?
• Can a person create a film in one’s own?
• Where to start if you really want to make a documentary?

Who will teach the course?

Maryna Nikolcheva, a young Ukrainian indie filmmaker and experienced teacher will become a mentor of the DOCU/START programme. Maryna Nikolcheva is also a teacher and founder of the Shcrab Visual Arts School, and a mentor of the design school School of Visual Communication. She taught visual arts in India and collaborated with Maibutni project for a long time.

Participants of the course will also meet with Serhiy Bukovsky film director, producer, teacher, supervisor «Майстерні DOC» (Maisternia DOC). Serhiy has made about forty films. His works have participated and been awarded at numerous international film festivals, in particular at the Molodist International Film Festival in Kyiv, DOC Leipzig, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, Visions du Réel, Kraków Film Festival. 

How to become a DOCU/START participant?

The DOCU/START training programme is free, participants will be selected on a competitive basis. To submit your candidacy, you must fill out THE APPLICATION FORM. 

What you need to join DOCU/START: 

• Age: 14-16 years old
• Interest in documentary filmmaking
• Ability to attend all classes of the programme
• Willingness to participate in practical classes and group projects
• Parental permission to participate in the programme

Key dates

Deadline for application submission: 10 March 2022 (inclusive).

Announcement of the list of participants: 17 March.

Training: 27-31 March, from 11:00 to 13:00

Training will take place in the inclusive space of the Valia Kotyk Children's Public Library at the address Kyiv, Podil, Mezhyhirska St, 25.