Congratulations to the Travelling Festival on its official opening in Boryspil, Kyiv region, as we are preparing for it to travel all around the country. We are happy to announce that the next region the festival will visit with its intense program, special events on historical memory, outstanding experts, and special guests will be... Ternopil!

We have prepared a digest of events for you, so save the dates, plan your schedule, and come visit us.

The beautiful city welcomes the Festival on October 16!

The Travelling Festival in Ternopil opens with a press conference and a special event – the author's multimedia presentation “The Pastoral Mission of the Kovch Family in Ternopil Region,” dedicated to the 140th anniversary of the birth and 80th anniversary of the death of Omelian Kovch, prominent Greek Catholic priest, chaplain of the Galician Army, pastor of the Majdanek concentration camp, and Righteous Among the Nations.

The screening of the documentary film Caught in the Net (dirs. Barbora Chalupová, Vit Klusák) within the framework of the informational campaign “Sexual Abuse on the Internet: How to Protect Children.” The screening will be followed by a discussion with Mariana Hevko, psychologist at the Barnahus model psychological help center, coach, expert at the International NGO International Center for Development and Leadership, and project manager of the DOCU/CLUB Network; Taisiya Rubanyak, lawyer, and member of the Ukrainian Women Lawyers Association “JurFem”; and Svitlana Kalaur, doctor of pedagogical sciences and professor at the TNPU.

October 17

Ternopil. Repeat of the festival's special event – presentation “The Pastoral Mission of the Kovch Family in Ternopil Region”. Screening and discussion of the film The Kyiv Files by Walter Stokman: what goals should the policy of decommunization achieve?

October 19

Chortkiv. Garden Day at the Library on Zelena Street: we organize a public cleanup to arrange a green area in the library courtyard. Screening and discussion of the film Boots on the Ground, Hands in the Soil (dir. Karolina Uskakovych).

October 20

Polish Cinema Day in Chortkiv. Screening of the film Kiosk directed by Daniel Stopa. Taisiya Rubanyak, a leading expert in the field of gender-based violence, will participate in the discussion.

October 21

Polish cinema evening will include an online screening and discussion of Kiosk with participation of Taisiya Rubanyak and Iryna Fents, psychologist and psychotherapist, for those who will not be able to watch the film offline.

October 22

Short Film Day in Husiatyn. Screening and discussion of films by Ukrainian female directors: Boots on the Ground, Hands in the Soil by Karolina Uskakovych and Girl Away From Home (dirs. Simon Lereng Wilmont, Alisa Kovalenko).

October 23-24

Short Film Day in Zalishchyky for schoolchildren and students (Boots on the Ground, Hands in the Soil; Girl Away From Home; and Nelson the Pig), as well as the Memorial Day of Mila Sandberg-Mesner, the author of a book of memoirs about the tragic events of the Holocaust. We will discuss the culture of historical memory of genocide with experts and plant a symbolic tree in memory of Mila Sandberg.

Special events to mark the 140th anniversary of the birth and 80th anniversary of the death of Father Omelian Kovch will also take place in Chortkiv, Husiatyn, and Zalishchyky.

Impressive, isn’t it? This was only the first week of the Festival’s programme in the region! Let’s continue our journey:

October 29

A special event of the festival in Ternopil is the presentation of Volodymyr Lytkevych's book Shtetl at the End of Europe about the Jewish community of the town of Skala-Podilska in the Ternopil region and the events of the 1920s. The town was devastated during World War II and the Holocaust.

October 30

Ternopil. Screening and discussion of the documentary films Boots on the Ground, Hands in the Soil and Nelson the Pig.

October 30

Kremenets. Opening of the exhibition of the Traveling Docudays UA Foundation at the Local History Museum with solemn transfer of documents and photos from the 2023 Festival. In Kremenets, we will also screen and discuss three short films: Boots on the Ground, Hands in the Soil; Girl Away From Home; and Nelson the Pig.

October 31

We are back to Ternopil with screening and discussion of the film Girl Away From Home (dirs. Simon Lereng Wilmont, Alisa Kovalenko).

November 2

Planting trees in the Docudays UA park in the village of Dubivtsi. Together with our partners and volunteers, we will clean and prepare the park for winter.

November 4

Screening and discussion of The Kyiv Files in Ternopil.

November 5

Ternopil. Memorial Academy in honor of Stefania Shabatura, Ukrainian carpet weaver, long-term political prisoner of the Soviet era, member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group, with the participation of Myroslav Hlubish, expert and head of the All-Ukrainian Society of Political Prisoners and Repressed and chairman of the Ukrainian Society of Political Prisoners and Repressed. Screening of the stories about Travelling Festival’s events in Ternopil region from 2019-2023 to honor the dissident's memory. Screening and discussion of the film The Kyiv Files.

November 6

Ternopil. Screening of the documentary film Kiosk followed by a discussion.

November 7

Ternopil. A special event of the festival is the presentation of the documentary book Patriotic Prisoners by Ivan Bohdan (pseudonym of Vasyl Bohach, who was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine). In the book, the author tells about the illegal prosecution of combatants in 2014-2015 by the Prosecutor's Office. On this day, we will also hold a roundtable discussion “Political Prisoners of Belarus” to discuss the human rights situation in our neighboring country and the imprisonment of its citizens for their real or imaginary help to Ukraine. The event will be joined by Tetyana Hatsura-Yavorska, head of the NGO Lanka, producer, director of the film festivals “1084. On the Brink” and “Belarus Watchdog,” together with Andrei Myadzvedziev, journalist and member of the Belarusian Human Rights Center “Viasna.” Screening and discussion of The Kyiv Files and Kiosk.

November 8

For those who were unable to attend the first special event, we present Volodymyr Lytkevych's book Shtetl at the End of Europe in Ternopil once more. We will also organize a screening of The Kyiv Files, and we are looking forward to discussing it with our guests.

November 9

Ternopil. A special event by the Travelling Festival is the presentation of the book Details of the Hourglass by human rights activist, political and public figure, dissident poet and long-term political prisoner Mykola Horbal with the participation of the author himself. Screening and discussion of the film The Kyiv Files.

November 9

Dubivtsi. Another cleanup in the Docudays UA park: we are cleaning the premises, digging around trees, mulching, and planting new trees.

In addition, there will be a series of closed events within the campaign “Sexual Abuse on the Internet: How to Protect Children” with the screening of the documentary Caught in the Nets, as well as screenings and discussions of films from the Travelling Festival programme at educational institutions of Ternopil, Hrymailiv, Sokoliv, Dzvyniach, and Vyshnivets.

The program is subject to changes, so we will post up-to-date information about the time of the events and their locations on the Travelling Docudays UA in Ternopil Facebook page and on the main Travelling Festival page. Follow our announcements, so that you don't miss anything important and spend unforgettable days of documentary screenings with us.

See you soon!

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 the governments or charitable organizations of these countries. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of its author(s).