On October 19 and 20, the films No Obvious Signs and The Distant Barking of Dogs will be screened in Lviv as part of the the Travelling Docudays UA together with Biennale of Trust.

The film No Obvious Signs by Alina Gorlova is the story of a woman who returns from war. Talking to psychologists, battling her PTSD and panic attacks, she tries hard to get back to normal life. The documentary shows her path from the beginning of her rehabilitation until she goes back to work.

From the film No Obvious Signs

The screening will be followed by a discussion whose participants will include the psychologist Yulia Kunta, the retired volunteer soldier Yurko Vovkohon, and the anthropologist and social scientist Svitlana Odynets. The discussion participants will search for answers to questions about the methods of overcoming PTSD fear and about social prejudice against war veterans; they will also discuss the problem of adaptation of veterans and the methods and practices of overcoming the communication gap between “civilians” and ATO soldiers.

The film The Distant Barking of Dogs (by Simon Lereng Wilmont) follows 10-year-old Oleh, whose life has been turned upside down by the ongoing war in East Ukraine. Oleh lives with his beloved grandmother Oleksandra in a small house in a village on the frontline. Most people have left the village, but Oleh and Oleksandra love their life together there, and want to stay put and take care of each other. But life is becoming more and more difficult and the war does not seem to end.

Trailer of the film The Distant Barking of Dogs

The discussion after the film will be about the “children of war” — What are they like, where are they, and who thinks about them? How the contemporary Ukrainian school works to include them in the society? Do social programs for children from post-war territories and near-frontline areas exist (or being prepared)? How and who talks to them today, and what kind of communication should we aim for? The discussion will be attended by the director of the School of the Free and the Caring Oles Pohranychnyi, the social pedagogist from the Lviv Linguistic High School Olia Batius, and the artist Alevtina Kakhidze.

Biennale of Trust is an open platform for academic, artistic and day-to-day practical interpretation of the concept of trust, its comprehensive and interdisciplinary representation. The Biennale is an attempt to consolidate around the issue of trust the efforts of academic researchers and scientists, psychologists and economists, artists and managers, business people and activists to re-establish mutual trust and spread the atmosphere of trust throughout Ukrainian society. The mission of the Biennale of Trust is to re-establish and implant the habit of mutual trust that will serve as the ground for economic, social, and cultural prosperity.