From the Revolution on Granite to the most recent Revolution on Cardboard, we consciously choose democracy and go out into the streets again and again to defend it. What is the tradition and how does the freedom of peaceful assembly work in Ukraine? Why, despite all the risks, is it necessary during the war? How does our experience differ from that of other countries with unstable democracies, such as, for example, Sakartvelo, and what lessons should we draw from these stories?

On the occasion of the online release on DOCUSPACE of the film National Exams by Sakartvelo documentary filmmaker Giorgi Mrevlishvili, we will talk about the possibility for Ukrainians to be involved in the life of the state and influence decision-making every day, not only during elections. About how rallies and protests change society itself. And about how the authorities should respond so that, in their effort to protect national security and preserve unity, they do not reduce rights to a formality and slide into authoritarianism.

Speakers:

• Oleksandr Pavlichenko, Executive Director of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union;
• Ivanna Malchevska, Coordinator of the OZON Monitoring Group at the Centre for Civil Liberties.

Moderator: Anastasiia Bahalika, Director of the Human Rights Department at NGO Docudays.

The conversation will be in Ukrainian with sign language interpretation.

The film National Exams, which is about the challenges faced by Sakartvelo’s civil society in its pursuit of independence and a democratic future, can be watched on docuspace.org from 11 September to 2 October.

The releases are supported financially by the European Union and the Embassy of Sweden in Ukraine.