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Ukrainian Cinema in the World Program Presents around 20 Films at Film Festivals and Markets in the Last Year

September 3, 2009, the Ukrainian Cinema Foundation, Nemiroff Company, and Ukraine 3000 International Charitable Foundation held a joint press conference, reporting on the results of the implementation of the Ukrainian Cinema in the World program in 2008-2009, presenting their first public catalogue-report, and informing the public on their plans for the future.

Among the participants of the event, held at Kyiv Cinema Theater, were Head of the Board of Directors of Ukraine 3000 Foundation Oleksandr Maksymchuk, Director of the Ukrainian Cinema Foundation Andriy Khalpakhchi, Nemiroff Company PR Director Nataliya Konovalova, directors Roman Balayan and Mykyta Ratnikov.

The agreement on cooperation on a long-term project to support Ukrainian cinema, Ukrainian Cinema in the World, was signed by the Ukrainian Cinema Foundation and Nemiroff Company in April 2008. Since then, over 20 full-length and short films by Ukrainian directors have been presented at most important film forums and markets. In part, the Ukrainian cinema was appreciated by critics and public at Berlin, Cannes, and International Moscow film festivals. The Ukrainian cinema was presented at festivals in Germany, Poland, France, and Russia. Every festival attracted a capacity crowd. Ukrainian films not only attracted the spectators’ interest, but also proposals from French, German, and Japanese distributors. To achieve these results, Nemiroff Company has invested over UAH 5,000,000.

The final stage of the first year of UCF and Nemiroff’s joint work was publishing the Ukrainian Cinema in the World Program report, giving a detailed account of the goals, tasks, and attainments for every project on promoting the Ukrainian cinema, implemented in 2008-2009.

“The film foundation’s ideology is dedicated work to present Ukraine’s attainments in the cinema field to the world expert and spectators communities,” Mr. Khalpakhchi said. “We are happy that our desire to support domestic film industry is shared by our reliable partner, the Nemiroff Company. This gives the Ukrainian cinema a second wind.”

“Nemiroff is one of the few Ukrainian companies, accumulating great experience in promoting Ukrainian product in the world through supporting various initiatives in sports, culture, and fashion,” Ms. Konovalova said. “At that, what really matters for us is not financial profit but satisfaction brought by the fact that things Ukrainian are in great demand, that our film festivals attract full houses, and distributors are interested in our films.”

Referring to the experience of 2008, the partners expressed their preparedness to keep supporting the Ukrainian cinema at important film festivals and launch new projects. “We are planning to extend our geography and area of interest,” Mr. Khalpakhchi said.

One of those new projects presented at the press conference: Days of the Ukrainian Cinema in Munich: Ukrainian Film Panorama, to be held September 8-16, 2009. The festival will feature the biggest program of all ever presented by the Ukrainian Cinema Foundation: eight full-length films and six short. The festival will be hosted by the Munich Cinema Museum. German public will have a chance to make an acquaintance with Ukrainian classics: Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors by Serhiy Parajanov, The Spring for the Thirsty by Yuri Illenko, Brief Encounters by Kira Muratova, Flights in Dreams and in Reality by Roman Balayan. Modern Ukrainian cinema will be represented by Oles Sanin’s Mamay, Eva Neyman’s At the River, Kira Muratova’s Two in One, and Roman Balayan’s Birds of Paradise. Short and animation films will be presented as a separate program: Streetcar No. 9 by Stepan Koval, Upsun by Valentyn Vasianiovych, Adolescence by Dmytro Sukholytky-Sobchuk, Family Portrait by Maryna Vroda, On the Edge by Artem Sukharev and Mykyta Ratnikov, and Taxi Driver by Roman Bondarchuk. Also, a round table is scheduled for September 10 in Munich, Trends in Ukrainian Cinema, with the participation of Ukrainian and foreign cinematographers, representatives of the Ukrainian Cinema Foundation and Nemiroff Company.

“We have laid a basis for the development and popularization of the Ukrainian cinema abroad and in Ukraine,” Mr. Maksymchuk said. “Our work has already brought great results. I hope that the future will bring us further success and attainments.”

The Ukrainian Cinema Foundation was created under the auspices of Ukraine 3000 International Charitable Foundation in 2007. Its major goal is familiarizing foreign cinema experts and public with classic and modern Ukrainian films and promoting the Ukrainian cinema globally. The UCF’s major goals are improving Ukrainian cinema’s competitive capacity on the global market, facilitating Ukrainian cinematographers’ access to international markets, opening new markets for Ukrainian films, extending distribution possibilities for Ukrainian films, accumulating and propagating its experience.