A joint press conference with representatives of two regions was held in hybrid format on 23 November, before the start of the 18th Travelling Docudays UA in Donetsk and Kharkiv Regions.

Hryhorii Kurachytskyi and Svitlana Seliverstova, Coordinators of the Travelling Docudays UA, Oksana Kozakova, Lawyer at the local Centre for Free Legal Aid, and Denys Tarasenko, Doctor of Science in Economics, Dean of the Faculty of Law and Public Administration at Donetsk State University of Management joined the event in Mariupol. Oleksandr Bukalov, head of the Donetsk Memorial NGO, and Nataliia Aliabieva, a representative of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights in Warsaw joined other speakers online. Together they announced the start of the Festival in Donetsk Region.

Anna Smahliuk, Assistant to the President of the Kharkiv University Consortium UNICON, Mariia Yasenovska, President of the Kharkiv Regional Foundation Public Alternative, Yurii Chumak, Head of the Centre for Legal and Political Studies DUMA and Denys Volokha, representative of the Kharkiv Human Rights Group. They told about the start of the Festival in Kharkiv region.

“For eighteen years, Docudays UA has been working on human rights topics through documentaries. Films from the Docudays UA Travelling programme allow us to find answers to difficult and often controversial questions and sort out the diversity of opinions,” said Oleksandr Bukalov in an interview with Larysa Osenchuk. “For the second year running, we are working in a hybrid format. In the Donetsk region, events will be held not only online, but a large number of film screenings will also take place in a closed format, in closed institutions and schools. Some of the films from the Travelling Docudays UA programme will be available at the DOCUSPACE online cinema.

Hryhorii Kurachytskyi spoke about the main topic of this year’s Travelling Docudays — Full Recovery dedicated to the human right to health. Denys Tarasenko and Oksana Kozakova talked about the joint events of the Festival with Donetsk State University of Management and Centres for Free Secondary Legal Aid in Donetsk Region.

Mariia Yasenovska noted that this year she continues to talk about the challenges the discrimination poses and also plans to involve business representatives in the conversation about human rights in Kharkiv Region.

Anna Smahliuk told about the organization of screenings during the Travelling Docudays UA in higher education establishments of Kharkiv. A number of events are also planned, such as the round table “How can you defend your right to safe and dignified childbirth?" and workshops on "Responsibility for Public Information and Cybercrime Prevention."

According to Denys Volokha, film screenings organized by the Kharkiv Human Rights Group will be held at various locations, including the Diplomatic Club, the Jewish Cultural Centre, Kharkiv hubs, schools, universities, and other places. There will also be discussions on human rights and "traditional values", the balance between quarantine restrictions and individual freedom.

Among the venues for film screenings and discussions to be held in the Kharkiv Region by the DUMA Community Centre are schools, youth hubs of civic activity, Docudays UA film clubs, and institutions of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine. According to Yurii Chumak, the Festival activities of his organization will be mainly dedicated to the screenings of human rights films in the settlements of the Region. In addition, a number of screenings will take place at the DOCUSPACE online cinema.

See more photos from the event here.