MyStreetFilmsUkraine 2018
This year’s topic is Commonplaces. Last year’s program saw us travel extensively, trying to grab a hold of the Ukrainian East. We looked at the colored smoke of Azovstal, took a dip in the waters of the Azov Sea, got scared by gunfire in Mariinka, took photos against the background of the chalk mountains near Slaviansk, and then we gave ear to the stories of the settlers — sad, funny, and sometimes both.
While looking to understand the East, we realized there was no such thing as ‘the East’. There are myriads of towns and cities, factories, both abandoned and operational, and thousands of people with a story to tell but few to tell it to. A single thing could unite them — a place for the conversation to happen. We’ve got bad news, though: the East lacks these, sometimes to a catastrophic extent. The good news is that their numbers are on the rise, and the people behind them are outright fantastic.
Urban studies suggest that it only takes a place for some things to happen. Perhaps a lack of common spaces is the main reason for societal challenges? We can’t offer a guarantee, but we’re sure that some of the most interesting changes in Ukraine are taking place in the East right now. They’re evident in the new hotspots of public life. These include cultural and public initiative platforms “TIU“, “Teplytsia” (“The Greenhouse”), “Vilna Khata” (“The Free Hut”), “Druzi” (“Friends”), local lore museums that have dared to engage modern artists of the “DE NE DE” initiative and reinvent their old expositions, as well as newly created youth platforms: the skate park inside the old cinema in Lysychansk, the summer staircase cinema and the wooden pier in Kostiantynivka.
This year’s MyStreetFilms continues its journey across the East in search of common spaces and the heroes behind them. We are interested in stories from the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions focused on old or new cinemas, museums, libraries, theaters and other places enabling people to fulfill their social nature.
Semifinals will receive technical and logistic support, advice from experienced mentors and the chance to shoot and produce their films. The winner will be selected by the international jury during the “86” festival in Slavutych. The winner of the Grand Prix will receive the chance to present their film personally at the prestigious international film festival. Travel and living expenses are covered by the festival. For more details, please contact nadia@86.org.ua.
Timeline:
February, 19 – deadline for applications
February, 23 – announcement of selected projects
March, 1 – 4 – pre-production workshop in Kyiv (concept development, basics of production)
March – April – production, fieldwork, consultations with mentors, assembly cut
April 26 – 29 – post-production workshop in Kyiv (editing, sound, dialogues)
May 9 – 13 – premiere at 86 IFFU
Selected films from previous years of MyStreetFilmsUkraine:
“Among the Huts“, directed by Oksana Nosach, a Pozniaky village struggling for survival.
“Bridge“, directed by Olena Moskalchuk, Oksana Nosach, an elegy to the Rybalsky bridge.
“In the East“, directed by Piotr Armianovskyi, a spring 2015 panorama of Kramatorsk.
