On 17 October, the Travelling Docudays UA 2023 opened in Poltava for two weeks. Here is a brief account of the first events and impressions from the Travelling Docudays UA in the Poltava Region.

The opening film was a work directed by Maksym Lukashov, a film about the changes in the life of clarinetist Mykyta Hirnia from Chernihiv after the beginning of the full-scale invasion. In addition to the film, the festival guests had the opportunity to see a presentation of an exhibition Zhyve Ukraine by Belarusian artist and activist Violetta Mayshuk. The central idea of the exhibition was to demonstrate the importance of the joint struggle of Belarusians and Ukrainians against Russia. “We, Belarusians, believe that without Ukraine’s victory in the Russian-Ukrainian war, there will be no Belarus, because right now Belarus is also occupied by Russians. We cannot return to Belarus today, because it is completely occupied, we’re persecuted there. Now we’re helping Ukraine,” says Violetta Mayshuk in her comment for Suspilne News.

Zhyve Ukraine exhibition by Violetta Mayshuk. Photo: Suspilne Poltava

The other guest meeting the visitors together with Violetta Mayshuk was activist Dmytro Lukomsky, with whom they work together at the Human Rights Education House in Chernihiv. The moderator and expert at the event was Andriy Kinash, civic education coach, psychologist, and chairman of the board of NGO МАRT.

Travelling Docudays UA in Poltava Region

The event took place in Library Branch 4 of the Central Library of the Poltava Community. The opening was attended, among other visitors, by the professors and students of the Taras Shevchenko Luhansk Research Institute of Culture and Arts.

An important component of the Travelling Docudays UA is to actively ensure inclusivity for the audiences in Ukrainian regions. So this year some of the films from the festival programme in the Poltava Region were accompanied by audio descriptions, say the organisers on the festival’s Facebook page.

The films with audio descriptions included, among others, the film Ptitsa, which was screened at the Vulyk School of Useful Leisure at the Kotliarevsky Regional Science Library. After the screening, the festival organised an online conversation with the film’s director Alina Maksymenko.

Header photo: Travelling Docudays UA in Poltava.

The 20th Travelling Docudays UA is held with the support of the Embassy of Sweden in Ukraine, Embassy of Switzerland in Ukraine, US Embassy in Ukraine. The opinions, conclusions or recommendations do not necessarily reflect the views of the governments, charities, or companies of these countries. Responsibility for the contents of the material lies solely on its authors.