NGO Docudays and the Docudays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival are publishing a new edition of the Electronic Catalogue of Ukrainian Documentary Films (2023–2025), which presents Ukrainian documentary films and film projects, production companies, studios, film festivals, distributors, and now also curators of non-fiction cinema.
We have collected 60 films, 130 personalities, and 59 organisations to feature in the VII Edition of the Electronic Catalogue of Ukrainian Documentary Films. This selection of materials, in our opinion, answers the complex and provocative question: "What should our cinema be like today?" In one word: Diverse. In the Catalogue, you can explore works that delve attentively into historical and social contexts as well as very personal and poignant stories. They investigate subjects such as war crimes, memory, life in emigration, the search for and protection of identity, preservation of cultural heritage, artistic creativity, sports competitions, and care for nature. In addition to Ukrainian directors, producers, and curators, we could not leave out global names and organisations that testify to the strong co-production component of national filmmaking in recent years.
"The seventh Electronic Catalogue of Ukrainian Documentary Films is being released in the midst of the third year of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine. This project was conceived many years ago as an annual tool to amplify the Ukrainian documentary voice abroad during non-festival periods. Over the years, the catalogue has been diligently worked on by previous Docudays UA programme directors: Gennady Kofman, Viktoria Leshchenko, and the entire festival team — and I believe that, in many ways, the catalogue has also become an important building block in strengthening Ukrainian cinema both domestically and on the international stage.
After 2022, the project was forcibly interrupted – however, its importance grows day by day. Cultural-diplomatic activities have become an integral and significant direction of Docudays UA's work over the past nearly two and a half years: in partnerships with our foreign colleagues and friends, we regularly organise screenings of Ukrainian documentary films abroad to continue advocating for support and assistance to Ukraine in this aggressive war, to counter Russian propaganda, and to defend our right to a future in a safer world. Therefore, the new edition of the Electronic Catalogue of Ukrainian Documentary Films is undoubtedly an effective way to systematically and comprehensively share information with international colleagues about the latest documentary works, both completed and in progress, and about the professionals behind these works.
I sincerely thank all the teams of organisations, projects, and films included in the catalogue for their participation. I also thank my colleagues from the Selection Committee and the Programming Department for meticulously forming the lineup of projects and films in this edition, the catalogue editor Ksenia Opria, the IT Department Director Yevhen Antyukhin, and all colleagues whose efforts have brought the Electronic Catalogue of Ukrainian Documentary Films back after the break,” warmly shares Yuliya Kovalenko, Programme Director of Docudays UA and coordinator of the new edition of the Catalogue.
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Read more details about the selection criteria for the Catalogue in the Regulations.
The Catalogue is published with the support of the Embassy of Sweden in Ukraine.
