« »

Kateryna Yushchenko Opens Days of Ukrainian Cinema in Vinnytsia Oblast

December 3, 2009. Head of the Supervisory Board of the Ukraine 3000 International Charitable Foundation Kateryna Yushchenko took part in the opening ceremony of the Days of Ukrainian Cinema festival in Vinnytsia oblast. The festival was organized by the Ukrainian Cinema Foundation and Nemiroff Company and supported by Vinnytsia Oblast State Administration.

Also present at the event were Head of Vinnytsia Oblast State Administration Oleksandr Dombrovsky, Head of Vinnytsia Oblast Council Hryhory Zabolotny, Vinnytsia Mayor Volodymyr Hroysman, Director General of Nemiroff Company Alla Hlus and President cum Head of the Board of Directors of Nemiroff Holding Oleksandr Hlus, Head of the Board of Directors of Ukraine 3000 Foundation Oleksandr Maksymchuk, Director of the Ukrainian Cinema Foundation Andriy Khalpakhchi, cinema stars and cinematographers: director Roman Balayan, actors Larysa Kadochnykova, Olha Sumska, Oleksiy Bohdanovych, Vitaly Borysiuk, Ruslana Pysanka, Olesia Zhurakovska, young Ukrainian cartoonists Dmytro Sukholytky-Sobchuk and Mykyta Ratnikov, and widow of Ivan Mykolaychuk, Maria.

In her address Mrs. Yushchenko mentioned the great role of the cinema in the forming of a personality. “Cinema is a unique art, able to surprise, teach, and shock at the same time,” she said. “Everyone has his own view on the surrounding world, but cinema can actually change our world.”

“The Ukrainian cinema has a glorious history and is known around the world. But we have to work hard to revive it. It is a priority for my husband and myself,” Mrs. Yushchenko said, recalling the President’s initiatives on developing the Ukrainian cinema.

Mrs. Kateryna highly appraised the Ukrainian Cinema Foundation’s work on promoting the Ukrainian cinema globally. However, in her words, it is high time to introduce the best attainments of the classic and new Ukrainian cinema to the Ukrainian spectator.  “This is a part of our culture. We should know, respect, and love the Ukrainian cinema,” she said.

Mrs. Kateryna also spoke about the Ukraine 3000 Foundation’s work on supporting the domestic cinema, in part, the For Developing National Cinema award the Foundation hands over on an annual basis within the framework of the Molodist Film Festival.

After the ceremony, Serhiy Parajanov’s Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors was demonstrated.

The same evening Mrs. Yushchenko took part in the official reception on the occasion of the opening of the Days of Ukrainian Cinema festival in Vinnytsia oblast, given by Nemiroff Company and Ukrainian Cinema Foundation.

Ukraine’s first Days of Ukrainian Cinema festival will be held December 3-5, 2009. The films will be demonstrated in Vinnytsia, Nemyrov, and Haysyn with free admission. The spectators will see Ukrainian films of the latest years: The Living by Serhiy Bukovsky, Light is the Night and Birds of Paradise by Roman Balayan, and Ukrainian classics: Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors by Serhiy Parajanov. Short films will be represented by works of young directors, prize winners of international film festivals: Streetcar No. 9 by Serhiy Koval, Adolescence by Dmytro Sukholytky-Sobchuk, On the Edge by Artem Sukharev and Mykyta Ratnikov, and Dreams Sanctuary by Serhiy Volkov. The festival participants (organizers, actors, and directors) will meet with spectators in all three locations.

Mrs. Kateryna Yushchenko and Ukraine 3000 Foundation members are on a one-day trip to Vinnytsia oblast. Earlier they have visited the Bratslav Educational Institution for orphaned children and children, deprived of parents’ care. Mrs. Yushchenko also visited a Nemiroff Company enterprise, talking to the management and taking a tour of the factory.