There seems to be an unwritten rule: if something is meant to happen, it will happen.

Before the opening of the 22nd Travelling Docudays UA in the Odesa Region, the organisers had prepared for every possible mishap: two laptops, a generator, a projector, even a spare power bank, large and powerful. It seemed they were ready for anything. Well, almost.

And then the opening day arrived. And everything happened at once. Rain, an air raid alert, a power outage, an unexpected generator breakdown… But the Travelling Festival began nonetheless.

Only candles lit the hall: the power bank could support just the projector. Yet the flickering flames created a remarkable atmosphere. The screening of Antonio Lukich’s film How I Spent My Summer Holidays? took place in a warm, intimate setting.

And it wasn’t just a screening. For several years now, the Travelling Festival has featured joint openings held across distances, connecting communities hundreds of kilometres apart in a shared virtual space. This time, Chornomorsk watched the film together with Dnipro, where the Travelling Festival was also opening at that very moment.

Photo: distant discovery, by Larisa Kolomeets

The festival coordinators, Hryhorii Kurachynskyi (Dnipro) and Oleh Okhredko (Chornomorsk), opened the meeting. Their words set the tone for the evening:

about this year’s festival theme, Rare Resource, which everyone understands in their own way;

about supporting people who have returned from captivity and recognising that their adaptation is our shared responsibility;

about participatory democracy, a concept new to many, yet deeply rooted in the Ukrainian spirit;

and about the challenges of the digital world and the importance of preserving humanity even in virtual spaces.

The short film How I Spent My Summer Holidays? gathered viewers around the screen, people who saw themselves in every frame. Simple, sincere, and moving, the film revealed two worlds — peace and war — that coexist side by side in today’s Ukraine.

After the screening, people shared their impressions, told their own stories, and spoke about faith, resilience, and the dreams that give them strength to move forward.

Photo: discussion and viewing by candlelight, author Larisa Kolomeets

Yes, it was the Travelling Festival by candlelight. And perhaps it is in such quiet, in half-darkness, that we can feel most deeply why we come together at this festival: to remain human.

Author: Oleh Okhredko

The 22nd Travelling Docudays UA is held with the financial support of the European Union, the Embassy of Sweden in Ukraine, and International Media Support. The opinions, conclusions or recommendations do not necessarily correspond to the views of the European Union, the governments or charities of these countries. Responsibility for the content of the publication lies solely on its authors.