Preamble

The Travelling Docudays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival (hereinafter referred to as the Festival) will take place in the regions of Ukraine from October to November 2026. The Festival programme consists of a selection of documentary films from the programme of the 23rd Docudays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, which took place in Kyiv, and other events held as part of the Festival.

1. Terms and definitions

In these Regulations, the terms are used with the following meanings:

Applicant is an individual entrepreneur or legal entity (non-governmental organisation, cultural organisation, charitable foundation, central or local government body) that submits an application to obtain the status of a Regional Partner of the Festival.

Regional Partner is an Applicant that, following consideration of its application, has been granted the status of a Regional Partner of the Festival in accordance with Section 5 of these Regulations.
Coordinator is an individual who directly organises the Festival in the region: if the Regional Partner is a legal entity, an authorised representative of that entity; if the Regional Partner is an individual entrepreneur, the Regional Partner themself.

2. Festival Goal

To promote respect for and the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, affirm the understanding of human dignity as the highest value, increase the level of civic engagement in Ukraine, and foster the development of documentary cinema.

3. Festival Mission

We create opportunities for every person in Ukraine to watch talented and relevant documentary films from around the world that explore human rights. We foster an active civic stance and respect for human dignity. We support the development of the Ukrainian film industry.

4. Festival Organisers

• Non-governmental organisation Docudays

• Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union

• Charitable Organisation “Charity and Health Fund”

• Centre for Contemporary Information Technology and Visual Arts

5. Regional Partners of the Festival

5.1. The Festival’s Regional Partners may be legal entities (including, but not limited to, non-governmental organisations, cultural organisations, charitable foundations, central and local government bodies), as well as individual entrepreneurs, with the exception of political parties and religious organisations, that share the Festival’s values, goal, mission and objectives, support the Declaration of Ethical Principles of the Regional Partners Network of the Travelling Docudays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, undertake to comply with the requirements of the Safety and Inclusion Policy of Docudays NGO when organising and holding Festival events and in the course of any other cooperation with Docudays NGO, and meet the following criteria:

5.1.1. The Applicant has sufficient resources to provide the technical, informational and other conditions necessary for holding Festival film screenings and events in its region, in compliance with the Festival Organising Criteria developed by the Festival management team.

5.1.2. The Applicant has a strong reputation in the cultural sphere and among civil society activists in its region.

5.1.3. The Applicant has experience in holding cultural and human rights events.

5.1.4. The Applicant is not affiliated with any political party or religious denomination.

5.1.5. The Applicant (represented by the Coordinator) is prepared to undertake to comply with copyright requirements when using films provided by Docudays NGO. The Regional Partner confirms this undertaking in a special agreement (Cooperation Agreement).

5.2. To obtain the status of a Regional Partner of the Festival, the Applicant must submit an application, in which it provides confirmation that it meets the above criteria, by writing to [email protected]. As a general rule, the Application must be submitted no later than two calendar months before the Festival begins.

5.3. The decision to grant Regional Partner status is made by the Executive Director of Docudays NGO, taking into account the opinion of the Festival organisers.

5.4. Docudays NGO may terminate its cooperation with a Regional Partner, including, but not limited to, on any of the following grounds:

5.4.1. The Regional Partner breaches these Regulations.

5.4.2. The Regional Partner breaches the terms of the Cooperation Agreement.

5.4.3. The Regional Partner fails to comply with the principles of the Declaration of Ethical Principles of the Network of Regional Partners of the Travelling Docudays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, the values of the Festival, and the requirements of the Safety and Inclusion Policy of Docudays NGO.

5.4.4. The Regional Partner fails to meet the deadlines for submitting documents during the preparation of the Festival, as specified in Section 6 of these Regulations, and/or the reporting deadlines specified in Section 12 of these Regulations.

5.4.5. The quality of the Festival organised by the Regional Partner does not meet the criteria specified in Section 11 of these Regulations.

5.5. If, without valid reasons and prior notice to the management team, the Regional Partner does not participate in the annual seminar on preparing and organising the Festival (Clause 6.3 of these Regulations), or if the Regional Partner does not hold the Festival for more than 1 year, Docudays NGO may, taking into account the opinions of the Festival organisers, decide to terminate its cooperation with the Regional Partner.

6. Preparation for the Festival

6.1. The Coordinators attend the Docudays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival in Kyiv, where they have the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the festival programme, watch films, and attend the DOCU/CLASS documentary workshop, human rights events, and various networking meetings.

6.2. The management team compiles the Festival programme, communicates with the rights holders of the selected films, and obtains permission for their screening and for the number of screenings in the regions of Ukraine. The management team provides the Regional Partners with the final list of films to be screened as part of the Festival no later than 30 days before the Festival begins.

6.3. No later than one month before the Festival begins, the management team organises a seminar for the Coordinators and informs them in advance of the date, venue (format), and agenda of the seminar. During the seminar, the Coordinators work extensively with the theme and programme of the Festival, participate in lectures and workshops included in the seminar programme, etc.

6.4. Three weeks before the Festival begins, the management team creates and sends the Regional Partners a basic package of visual materials to promote the Festival: templates for posters, announcements, and schedules; images for social media; the Festival trailer.

6.5. While preparing the Festival, the Regional Partners send the Festival management team the relevant documents, on the basis of which the programme and terms of co-operation are established. The Coordinators receive the forms for these documents during the seminar referred to in Clause 6.3 of these Regulations.

6.6. The documents required for preparing the Festival include:

6.6.1. An Application for Festival Funding with Annex A (events) and Annex B (budget), which must be sent to [email protected] no later than 3 weeks before the Festival begins.

In the event of unforeseen circumstances and provided that the Festival management team is notified, the application may be accepted later, but no later than 14 days before the Festival begins.

6.6.2. Annex A (schedule of planned events) must be completed online, and notification of this must also be sent to [email protected] no later than two weeks before the Festival begins.

6.6.3. The Cooperation Agreement with the Regional Partner must be signed via the Vchasno online service no later than one week before the Festival begins.

6.6.4. A Request to Download Films, indicating the Agreement number, must be sent to [email protected] no later than one week before the Festival begins.

6.7. Regional Partners (Coordinators) must submit for approval by the Festival management team a promotional plan and the completed visual materials they intend to use to promote the Festival to [email protected] no later than 10 days before the Festival begins in their region.

6.8. Docudays NGO enters into agreements with the Regional Partners, the terms of which provide for the transfer of the non-exclusive copyright to publicly demonstrate (publicly screen) the Festival films (the film titles and running times are specified in Annex No. 1 to the Agreement, which forms an integral part thereof).

6.9. Pursuant to the agreement referred to in Clause 6.8 of these Regulations, Docudays NGO shall provide the Regional Partners with the films in digital format and information materials relating to these films.

7. Festival Programme

​​7.1. The Festival programme includes public and closed events.

The Festival’s public programme comprises events that are open and accessible to everyone. These include film screenings, lectures, workshops and discussions held at open venues and in public spaces: cinemas, houses of culture, galleries, bookshops, etc.

Closed events are film screenings and lectures organised for a specific and/or previously invited audience, to which access is restricted.

7.2. When developing the Festival programme, Coordinators are advised to:

7.2.1. Maintain the Festival’s thematic balance and cover its theme as fully as possible by holding at least 15 events (film screenings, conversations, human rights discussions, exhibitions, training sessions, workshops, lectures, conferences and other events).

7.2.2. Maintain a balance between public and closed events, at the Coordinator’s discretion and taking into account the security situation in the region and locality.

7.2.3. Study current issues affecting cities and towns and organise productive discussions involving moderators and local experts. Film can always serve as a starting point for discussing broader issues and holding professional debates.

7.2.4. Involve experts in discussions. Allocate fees for a moderator and photographer in the budget in advance.

7.3. At least 60% of the films in the festival package provided by Docudays NGO must be used during the Festival.

7.4. Festival events should be held at popular venues in the locality that have their own audience and programme of events and also undertake promotional activities.

In connection with Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, the planning, selection of venues and holding of the Festival must be carried out in accordance with the level of threat in the region (locality) and with due regard for safety considerations.

8. Preparation and Organisation of the Festival’s Public Programme

8.1. The Coordinator ensures that films from the Festival programme are promoted in advance and screened to a high standard, facilitates productive discussions after screenings, organises and conducts human rights education events.

8.2. While preparing and holding the Festival, the Coordinator may seek advice and support regarding the Festival programme and promotion from the Festival management team.

8.3. The Coordinator must submit the schedule of the Festival’s public programme for review to [email protected] no later than 2 weeks before the first event.

8.4. If several Regional Partners hold the Festival in the same locality, their Coordinators jointly form the public programme schedule and promotional plan and divide duties and areas of responsibility.

8.5. Only one Regional Partner may be responsible for the public programme in a locality if the other Regional Partners in that locality have approved this and agreed to focus on closed events. If there is no such agreement, all Regional Partners in that locality are jointly responsible for the public programme.

8.6. The Festival’s public programme in a region must have a clearly defined time frame. The recommended duration is no more than 2 weeks.

8.7. The Regional Partners in the same locality hold a press screening or press conference jointly. A press conference is required to announce the Festival and must therefore take place at least one week before the Festival begins. Any other formats for announcing the Festival must be discussed and agreed in advance with the Festival management team.

8.8. The Festival is not intended to generate income from its events; however, to reduce the cost of hiring cinema halls, Regional Partners may permit cinema owners to sell admission tickets, provided that the ticket price does not exceed the amount required to cover the technical costs of the screenings. The organisers are not entitled to receive any proceeds from the sale of admission tickets.

In connection with Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, the planning, selection of venues and holding of the Festival must be carried out in accordance with the level of threat in the region (locality) and with due regard for safety considerations.

8.9. The Festival is a non-commercial, non-political and non-religious project. Regional Partners may not:

8.9.1. Hold any events jointly with or in support of particular political parties and/or religious organisations.

8.9.2. Invite representatives of political parties and/or religious organisations to participate in events as speakers, experts or moderators.

9. Requirements for Promoting Festival Events

9.1. Promotion of the Festival must be done in advance and cover the entire Festival programme.

9.2. Promotion must make use of all available means of communication.

9.3. Public messages about the Festival must cover the Festival’s theme and be informative, accessible, concise and accurate.

9.4. Public messages about the Festival must not distort information, provide false information, or employ discriminatory, offensive or unfounded value judgements presented as fact.

9.5. Visual materials about the Festival that are made publicly available must conform to the Festival’s visual concept and the design developed by the Festival management team, including fonts and image dimensions.

9.6. After the Festival events have taken place, the Coordinator must send the Festival management team photographs (from at least 2 Festival events), as well as at least 2 texts about holding the Festival in their region. The submitted materials must comply with the requirements of the Festival management team and the Child Protection Policy of Docudays NGO.

10. Copyright Compliance

10.1. When holding film screenings, the Regional Partner is responsible for complying with copyright law and takes every possible measure to protect the film from piracy.

10.2. The number of screenings of each film may not exceed the number specified in the Agreement between Non-governmental Organisation “Docudays” and the Regional Partner, and the screenings must take place exclusively within the period specified in that Agreement.

10.3. Once the licence for the public screening of films as part of the Festival has expired, the Regional Partners must delete the films provided to them from all storage media on which they are stored.

10.4. The Coordinator conducts online film screenings using exclusively the link for a collective viewing of the film provided by the Festival management team.

11. Festival Monitoring

11.1. During the Festival, the management team may organise monitoring visits and conduct surveys to analyse the quality of the organisation and preparation of the Festival by Regional Partners, as well as to prepare recommendations for improving the quality of Festival events. Monitoring involves reviewing and directly attending the Festival programme in different regions and assessing it according to criteria including, but not limited to, the following:

11.1.1. Carefully selected content: the programme must present and explore the Festival theme accessibly and fully.

11.1.2. The programme’s suitability for the target audience.

11.1.3. The selection of a venue that ensures accessibility, high-quality projection and audio for the events.

11.1.4. The use of venues popular for cultural events in the locality.

11.1.5. High-quality promotion of the Festival in advance using offline and online communication tools.

In connection with Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, the planning, selection of venues and holding of the Festival must be carried out in accordance with the level of threat in the region (locality) and with due regard for safety considerations.

11.1.6. A rich and varied programme, an understanding of the local context, its issues and potential, relevant discussions and training sessions, and human rights education events.

11.1.7. The involvement of relevant experts and partner organisations in the events.

11.1.8. Effective cooperation between Regional Partners within the same region.

11.1.9. The ability to plan and take account of the available opportunities for holding events.

11.2. The Regional Partner is required to conduct audience surveys using a questionnaire developed by the Travelling Docudays UA Festival team.

12. Reporting

After the Festival ends, the Regional Partner must submit a narrative report and complete the reporting section of Annex A within 10 working days and notify [email protected] that the report is ready.

13. Special Format for Holding the Festival

13.1. In 2026, due to Russia’s continuing military aggression against Ukraine and the hostilities taking place in Ukraine’s territory, the Festival’s public and closed events will be held in a special format:

13.1.1. The Festival will run from 1 October to 30 November 2026.

13.1.2. The deadline for submitting an application for Festival funding is 21 days before the Festival begins in the region. In the event of unforeseen circumstances and provided that the Festival management team is notified, the application may be accepted later, but no later than 14 days before the Festival begins.

13.1.3. The Coordinator independently determines the format (online, in person or hybrid) of an individual event or of the Festival in the region (locality) as a whole, according to the level of threat in the region (locality), and informs the Festival management team of this in the funding application and the schedule of public events.

13.1.4. When holding in-person and hybrid events, the Coordinator is responsible for complying with all martial-law safety rules in force in the locality, oblast and region during the Festival.

13.1.5. To expand the audience for public educational events held online, the Coordinator engages media resources and platforms to broadcast (stream) the Festival’s educational events.

13.1.6. Under martial law introduced by Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 64/2022 of 24 February 2022 “On the Introduction of Martial Law in Ukraine”, approved by Law of Ukraine No. 2102-IX of 24 February 2022 (as amended); the Procedure for Implementing Measures during the Introduction of a Curfew and the Establishment of a Special Light Masking Regime in Certain Localities where Martial Law Has Been Introduced, approved by Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 573 of 8 July 2020; the Law of Ukraine “On the Legal Regime of Martial Law”; and other regulatory legal acts adopted by state government bodies in connection with Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, as well as in order to eliminate or prevent threats to the life and safety of individuals, the interests of society or the state, and to maintain public order, the organisers reserve the right to amend these Regulations, subsequently notifying all interested parties by publishing the changes at https://travelling.docudays.ua.

Official Festival website: https://travelling.docudays.ua.