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18 WWW.UNWLA.ORG “НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, ЧЕРВЕНЬ 2015 Ukraine. Many people though are lost, disoriented, and angry at whoever is destroying their homes. You must remember that the Ukrainian media is almost non-existent there, so when civilian homes get destroyed— for example, as in the tragedy in Mariupol—local people have no idea who did it. Because the Russian media blamed the destruction on the Ukrainian army, many locals directed their hatred at Ukrainians. I think it is very important to work in these regions now—especially with children and youth. Our character Knyazhna is doing that right now: she brings some of the most active kids to Kyiv so that later they could go home and tell others the truth about what is going on. How has this experience of witnessing the Ukrainian revolution and the war in the Donbas changed you? As an artist, I always had this strong need to come in terms with our dramatic past. I made a film that explored unknown facts about the Second World War and another film about the Georgian tradition of sword fighting. I thought I understood something about war. But it is very different when you live through real violence... There are moments which I will never forget. Serhiy Nigoyan, this boy lying on a bed of flowers, with a Kobzar on his chest... And the cries of his mother. This is simply incompre- hensible. I saw how deeply damaging violence is, even for the freedom fighters, who are defending their homeland. You see how terrible it is for them to lose their friends and family members, and you hear about their nightmares, see their emotional struggles... I once spoke to some Croatians who said that they would be recovering for another twenty years from the war that had happened in former Yugoslavia. At the time, I could understand what they meant only theoretically, but now I can fully identify with that statement. We probably do not understand right now what we have lived through: we have not quite met our real feelings yet. You have witnessed a lot of ruin and suf- fering in Ukraine over the past year and a half. What kind of help do you think is most needed in Ukraine and how can the diaspora Ukrainians help? There are a few main directions, I think. The ultimate goal is to build a new Ukraine, a new civil democratic society, but in order to do this, we need to stop the bloodshed. Both soldiers and civil- ians are still dying. There is a lack of medical help and supplies. There is an urgent need to end the violence, and Ukraine will not be able to stop it without a new defense system. If the Ukrainian diaspora can lobby for it and the United States and Europe can help build this defense system, this would be a strong first step. Another problem is that a war is happening in Kyiv as well: this is the war with the old dragons—corruption and oligar- chy. It is difficult to know where to start and how to build the new institutions. In this case, Ukraine needs not only financial help, but also expertise, perhaps of those who have already helped trans- form some other post-totalitarian societies. Ukraine needs a lot of specialists who can create the plan of how to do it and then help implement that plan. In addition, information is very important: many people do not quite understand what is hap- pening in Ukraine because the news is too scat- tered and most news agencies do not allow their journalists in the most dangerous places. That is why it is vitally important to support the inde- pendent filmmakers, artists and journalists from new media, who are willing to risk and tell these stories. Art can be a very strong tool for conflict prevention. Recently we started working with the British foundation Britdoc. They consult and sup- port documentaries of great social importance from around the world. Such films become the platform for society-wide discussion and they do make a difference. Powerful documentaries are tools for political and social change. Thus, it is ex- tremely important to support the people who are fighting the informational war about Ukraine. We are working hard to build bridges with organizations, news agencies, and art projects that work to spread the truth about Ukraine worldwide. While this is an ambitious goal, I am privileged to work with a talented and devoted group of people, who can make it happen. They are my co- director—an award-winning director Ruslan Baty- tskyi; Serhiy Mykhalchuk, who was the director of photography in The Guide ( Povodyr ), Ukraine’s official entry to the Oscars this year; our brave war cinematographer Anton Yaremchuk and a war photographer Lesko Kromplitz; our cinematogra- phers Anna Borysova and Anton Fursa; a sound recordist Mykhailo Zakutskyi; and an associate editor Olia Voytenko. We intend to have screenings of our film and exhibits of photographs by Serhiy Mykhalchuk and Lesko Kromplitz in Washington, New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles. We are planning to invite not only the wide American audience to our presentations, but also the influential policy decision makers—diplomats, politicians, busi- nessmen, and journalists. By supporting our film,
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