Ukrainian Stand to Operate at Berlin Festibval for Third Year in a Row

4 February 2010

February 4, 2010, the Kyiv Cinema Theater hosted a press conference by the Ukrainian Cinema Foundation, Nemiroff Company, and Ukraine 3000 International Charitable Foundation on the presentation of the Ukrainian cinema at the 60th Berlin Film Festival.

Among its participants were Director of the Ukrainian Cinema Foundation Andriy Khalpakhchi, Head of the Board of Directors of Ukraine 3000 Foundation Oleksandr Maksymchuk, Head of the External Affairs Dept. of the Nemiroff Company Taras Yermakov, film director Myroslav Slaboshpytsky, film producers Olena Slaboshpytska,Volodymyr Tykhy, and Andriy Savenko, and young Ukrainian filmmakers, invited by the Berlinale 2010 organizers to take part in the young talents section: composer Andriy Baybakov and producer Olha Zhurzhenko.

February 11-21, the Ukrainian Cinema Foundation, supported by the Nemiroff Company and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Ukraine will present the Ukrainian cinema at the Berlinale 2010 European Film Market as part of the Worldwide Ukrainian Cinema program.

Due to the joint efforts of the Ukrainian Cinema Foundation and Nemiroff Company, this will be the third year that the Ukrainian cinema is presented at the Berlin Film Festival, one of the world’s most influential film forums.

This year the European Film Market will traditionally feature a Ukrainian stand. It will present to European film industry professionals and the public Volodymyr Liert’s Rejection. This fantasy drama narrates a love story under unusual circumstances. People are abandoning a city where the sky has turned jade green and everything is covered with green mould, destroying all flesh. The protagonist is to find out what is going on. Is it an alien invasion or a result of a failed military experiment? The film stars Serhiy Babkin, Bohdan Stupka, Ahniya Ditkovskite, Oleksandr Bashyrov, and Viktoriya Bilan. The premiere is scheduled for February 17 at the Marriott 1 room.

The stand will present materials on Ukrainian film industry: the Dovzhenko Studio, Mol;odist festival, independent filmmakers, etc. The visitors will also be offered Ukrainian films in DVD format.

The anniversary Berlinale will also feature a presentation of the Ukrainian Film Catalogue for 2009/2010, presenting information on Ukrainian films released in 2009 and those in preproduction, to be released in 2010.

It is especially gratifying that this year, for a second time in a row, the Berlinale organizers have selected a short film by Mykhaylo Slaboshpytsky for the competition. This year in the race for the Silver Bear will be an 11-minutes Deafness film from the Assholes: the Arabesques series. The film is a social drama, set at a boarding school for the deaf and mute.

Another reason for celebration is that this year three Ukrainians, - director Maryna Vroda, composer Andriy Baybakov, and producer Olha Zhurzhenko, got invitations to the Berlinale Talent Campus. Suffice it to say that there were over 5,000 applications from 145 countries to the Campus, out of which the organizers have selected 350.

A reception and presentation celebrating the Ukrainian cinema will be held February 18 at the European Film Market. The Nemiroff International Company and Ukrainian Film Foundation will receive representatives of the world film industry, renowned directors, actors, producers, and film critics. Among those invited to the event are Head of the Supervisory Board of the Ukraine 3000 International Charitable Foundation Kateryna Yushchenko, Ambassador of Ukraine to Germany Nataliya Zarudna, organizers of the Berlinale, Berlin VIPs, representatives of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Ukraine, Nemiroff Company, and Ukrainian Cinema Foundation.

The presentation of the Ukrainian cinema at Berlinale is one of the major stages of the Worldwide Ukrainian Cinema program by the Nemiroff Company and Ukrainian Cinema Foundation, being implemented since 2008. Its goal is supporting Ukrainian filmmakers and promoting the Ukrainian cinema in the country and abroad. In the years of its work the Nemiroff Company has invested almost UAH 8,000,000 into the program.