Docudays UA – International Documentary Human Rights Festival

The International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival Docudays UA for 15 years of its operation has grown from a one-week human rights and cultural event to a powerful yearlong Festival which raises the most urgent and acute matters of nowadays (e.g. global climate change in 2017 or equal rights in 2018), delivers these messages via engaging documentary films from all over the world, supported by profound moderated discussions to explain sometimes hard and unpopular topics, via organizing a series of human rights campaigns, debates, exhibitions, etc., to very different target audience by being present in more than 250 cities, towns and villages of Ukraine, with over 210 regularly operating film clubs for human rights education purposes (including more than 60 field presences in a penitentiary system). Moreover, Docudays UA has established strong ties both within human rights community and civil society sector in general and with the people of art and culture. The festival provides for a platform to foster open dialogue, propel advocacy, and foster human rights campaigns while administering educational events for the film industry, as well as for the civil society. Annually, the festival and its accompanying activities and infrastructure reach out to more than 160 000 people (which is mostly youth – 70-80%) with all our activity. Considering the above, Docudays UA Festival evolved into a unique cross-sector initiative in Ukraine which stands in the frontline of moving Ukraine towards European values and democracy. As far as specific examples are concerned, the XV Docudays UA Festival was attended by 20,924 people, who have deepened their knowledge in human rights, entered into the public discussions on the urgent issues associated with various forms of inequality that exists in Ukrainian society, learned how to counteract the stereotyped attitudes, dispelled myths, through watching 62 documentary films from 36 countries and participating in the human rights campaigns, open discussions, roundtables, living library master classes and other events on various matters raised in the framework of the theme "equal equalities." The CSO team organized 54 human rights campaigns and events; 105 screenings, each of which was followed by Q&A or discussion with filmmakers, characters, human rights experts and activists, NGO members, journalists, etc. More than 1,200 Ukrainian participants took part in the 2018 Festival, among them – human rights activists, experts, environmentalists, leaders of youth NGOs, regional partners of the Festival, activists, journalists, etc. The industry section was attended by 590 people. Some 68 foreign guests came to the Festival (the jury members, film authors and representatives of film crews, experts in the different field who provided master classes and participated in workshops). Over 140 regional coordinators and moderators of Docudays UA film clubs have improved their skills and knowledge in human rights, fundraising, management, promotion; visited film screenings and participated in the human rights events which will contribute to the further successful operation of film clubs and harmonized implementation of the Travelling Festival this autumn-winter. Around 120 volunteers joined to help run the Festival and obtain new precious skills and knowledge in various spheres (human rights, PR, marketing, programming, HR, management, art, films). More than 200 materials in various media were published about XV Docudays UA before and during the Festival; including 190 online publications, 19 TV news, over 20 radio broadcasts and more than 15 publications in the press. A share of human rights events was broadcasted live at the Festival’s Facebook page and jointly collected more than 10,560 views. The project had a direct impact on the beneficiaries of the project - the youth (accounting for about 70% of all visitors to the Festival) – thanks to a number of documentaries about the rights of different groups of the population, dozens of in-depth discussions with human rights activists and activists (which explained and revealed the themes raised in the films, discussed the principles of tolerant attitude, non-discrimination, respect for various vulnerable groups, minorities, etc.), and there were created the conditions for dialogue between the representatives of such groups and the visitors of the Festival. The organizers, first of all, aim at attracting young people and working with them - thus forming the democratic future of the Ukrainian nation in response to the urgent issues of nowadays. The biggest achievement of the Festival is the establishment of a live platform which operated for 7 days, and provided for the exchange of opinions and experiences of film workers (professionals and beginners), activists, human rights defenders, opinion leaders, government officials, people interested in art and human rights. This live forum of exchange of views, in which 20,924 people participated, created the conditions and the basis for a number of human rights campaigns, the creation of a new partnership and ideas, served as a place for dialogue between the government and CSOs, and further spread of the human rights campaigns to the regions during the Travelling Docudays UA festival, as well as Docudays UA film clubs. Thus, the Festival contributed to the development of critical thinking and knowledge on human rights, enhancement of the civic activism among visitors of the Festival.  

Ukrainian society, both members of the public and duty bearers, are better aware of human rights and universal values enshrined in international and regional HR conventions