The 21st edition of the Travelling Docudays UA, which this year spanned 15 regions of Ukraine, concluded in November. Kseniya Oprya, the editor of the festival’s website, traveled to Zaporizhzhya to attend the final regional screening and engage with the event organizers and the inspired audience.

I am particularly sensitive to the news, and recently, there has been an incessant focus on the “attack on Zaporizhzhya.” I boarded the night train, holding onto a feeling that transcended fear: the joy of reuniting with a loved one.

As I was leaving the carriage, a woman traveling in the same compartment remarked, “They say it's loud over here.” It was the moment I realized that fear is something we all share, and that the news from the Internet is its primary source. However, it was incredibly comforting to see through the distorted media portrayal of a “lifeless” city and its supposed anxiety.

Photo: A painted bomb shelter in the Zaporizhzhya library

I invited my husband to accompany me to the screening, despite my concerns that he might not be interested in watching a film about a 13-year-old gymnast. We watched Girl Away From Home by Alisa Kovalenko and Simon Lereng Wilmont. The film was only 13 minutes long, yet we spent much more time at the city library.

First of all, I observed the lively interaction among the viewers, who, based on their conversations, appeared to have known each other for quite some time. They took their places, exchanged greetings, and enjoyed hot tea and “Bee” candies. Larysa Holovko, the regional coordinator, reflected on the recent screenings and the films they had already seen.

“You’re Kseniya, right? I recognized you immediately because we watched The Kyiv Files about spies, and now, as we watch this film, we notice every little detail!” she remarked with a smile. She also shared a poignant story about the screening of The Kyiv Files in Zaporizhzhya:

“At one of the screenings, we had some rebellious elderly ladies sitting in the back, causing a disturbance with their candy wrappers. Within the first several minutes of the film, they exclaimed, ‘Why are we watching this? It looks just like our childhood!’ They then got upset and left the room. I went after them and said, 'You realize that people don't know what life was like when you were young. You can stay and be experts during the film discussion.’ They returned to the screening and subsequently shared their personal stories, which was immensely valuable.

The theme of this year's festival revolves around identity, and it is crucial for people to start discussing it. If we understood our history, we would live differently, in a free Ukraine.”

Photo: Relics in the bomb shelter.

Having immersed ourselves in a heartwarming shared experience, we started the screening. However, within the first few minutes, an air raid blared, followed by an announcement of the threat of aerial bombs being launched at the city. We calmly stood up and proceeded in line to the bomb shelter, which also serves as an art space. This shelter was filled with retro cameras, record players, watches, and other fragile historical artifacts that people had preserved not to gather dust, but to be appreciated. They put a projector and chairs in the shelter. That's how we finished watching the film: amid flashing notifications of repeated bomb launches, we followed the story of a young gymnast who missed her family but continued pursuing her passion, projected on a white wall.

As the credits rolled, I looked at my beloved and saw that his eyes were glistening with tears. He hugged me tightly and smiled. Was it the magic of cinema that had touched my steadfast warrior?

In the shelter, we were able to connect via Zoom with Alisa Kovalenko, the film’s director and soldier, who turned out to be from Zaporizhzhya. We were also joined by the film's protagonist, Nastya, and her mother, Svitlana. It was a focused, almost therapeutic conversation about personal matters, feelings, and hopes, summarized by a key phrase from the film: “As long as we are together, we can overcome anything.”

Photo: At the screening of Girl Away From Home.

Nataliya Ivanivna, a guest at the screening, deeply empathized with the girl's story: “I work with children at the Zaporizhzhya Rehabilitation Center, and we also had to evacuate them abroad. Now they are in Poland, but they all dream of the time when they will return home. They miss their families and everything they had.”

 I felt compelled to speak with the festival audience to collect their feedback. They spoke generously not only about the film they had just seen but also expressed their love for The Travelling Festival:

“This is not the first year I attended the screenings. Previously, they were also held in the open air. Once, the Travelling Docudays UA lasted all night, starting around 8 pm and ending at 5 am. We watched a lot of films back then,” said Borys, who was recognized by the audience as the holder of record for the most attended screenings.

One of the audience members, Lyubov Khoroshylova, turned out to be Alisa Kovalenko's neighbor and a cinephile. She shared her recollections: “I remember Alisa's first film, Sister Zo. We watched it here, at the Travelling Festival in Zaporizhzhya, with the regional coordinator Ihor Harmash. It was a student work, but even then, one could see the director's talent as she turned ordinary home videos into a real film! Since then, we have been watching all her films.”

Iryna Hryhorivna Piven, head of the Berdyansk community who relocated to Zaporizhzhya, reflected on the film's significance: “If we don't tell our real-life stories now, during the tenth year of the war, the Russians will distort everything again. We must recount our memories, write them down. We should make films about the fates of our relatives, the terrible situations when families are torn apart and scattered around the world, and the people who protect us. These are very painful topics, and that's why I support the director. I also thank Nastya and her mother for agreeing to film a story about their family. It is inspiring that the girl's dream has now come true: she has returned to her mom and dad and continues to train. Nastya proudly told us that she has already become a candidate for master of sports. Despite the terrible conditions of war and shelling, she is happy because she sees her family and has confidence in herself, believing she can achieve anything.”

 Collecting the chairs and saying goodbye to the friendly audience, I asked Larysa Holovko, the organizer of the screenings, how she felt about the 21st Travelling Festival: “These films are the best thing that could possibly happen to us in our circumstances. 20 screenings is just incredibly intense, although many people asked us to organize more! We work hard, and it's quite difficult. The events take place in bomb shelters because of the alarms, but it doesn't stop us from having fun. Do you know how much candy we bought? We are happy that so many people joined us! We will invite everyone to our film clubs, so we don't have to say goodbye.”

 
Author: Kseniya Oprya.

Photos: Kseniya Oprya.

The 21st Travelling Docudays UA is supported by the Embassy of Sweden in Ukraine, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ukraine, and International Media Support. The opinions, conclusions or recommendations do not necessarily reflect the views of respective governments or charitable organizations of these countries. The author(s) of this publication are solely responsible for its content.