On Friday, 15 November, the Travelling International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival Docudays UA opened in Zakarpattia with a screening of the film Bellingcat: Truth in a Post-Truth World at the Ilko Gallery art center.

88 minutes of unique facts about the activities of Bellingcat, aimed at opposing fakes which are produced on a daily basis by everyone, including the leading media of various countries. The film presents large-scale exposés about military events in Syria, the poisoning of former Russian agents in the UK, and most importantly, about the verified truth regarding the Malaysian Boeing flight MH17 which was downed over Donbas by Russian mercenaries.

“We are living in a time when information security has become just as important and relevant as physical security for all of us. Information wars and attacks, unfortunately, accompany the constant pressure on Ukraine by the Russian Federation. Our times demand that we perceive the information flow correctly, respond to it correctly. That is why today, we are talking about whether we are going to allow the app to alter our consciousness,” noted Natalia Kabatsiy, a co-organizer of the event and the director of the Charity Organization “Medical Aid Committee in Zakarpattia”, at the festival opening.

She also added that the Docudays UA Festival was non-political and non-commercial. It is the only international human rights documentary film festival in Ukraine, and a member of the International Human Rights Film Network.

The screening was followed by a discussion of the problems raised in the film. The key speaker was Mykhailo Makaruk, the spokesman for the international volunteer community Inform Napalm.

“Today, Inform Napalm is probably the most powerful institution in the country which engages in the information struggle, because the government isn’t performing this function at the moment. The main instruments in our work are our desire to achieve peace through victory, and the people who support our activities and share our values. We are proud to be an international community, because we have volunteers from Georgia, Germany, Poland, Belarus, Russia, France, South Africa, Turkey. And each of them is doing their own important part of the work. Inform Napalm data are cited by both government and international structures,” said Mykhailo Makaruk.

Although Mykhailo doesn’t like to be called an expert, his opinions are very accurate and relevant. In particular, regarding the need to apply critical thinking and improve media literacy – this guarantees that people understand the meaning of the events around them correctly.

“The world is changing, and soon, we will not recognize it, it will be different from its present state. Unfortunately, under the current conditions, Ukraine is losing the information war. We are now only learning how to oppose the enemy propaganda. And this festival, for instance, is one of the effective mechanisms of influence,” added Mhykhailo Makaruk.

Docudays UA in Zakarpattia will include two more days of screenings of relevant films, which will be followed by an intense educational program for high school and college students.