The International Festival of Documentary and Short Film of Bilbao, organised by Bilbao Town Hall, is making ready to hold the 64th festival from 11 to 18 November. Among the activities and screenings, the Festival has organised alongside the Ukrainian Institute – attached to the Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs – and the International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, DocuDays UA – held every year in March in Kyiv – a special programme on Ukrainian films.

The programme, “Focus Ucrania: Once I Was a Filmmaker, Now I Am a Soldier”, will include the screening of three feature documentary films and three short films from Ukraine presented after the invasion of Ukraine’s territory by the Russian army. Among them, “Mariupolis 2”, which won the Special Jury Award in the documentary section at the last Cannes Festival, directed by Mantas Kvedaravičius, but finished by his partner Hanna Bilobrova, after the director was caught and murdered by Russian soldiers in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol on 2 April this year. The Lithuanian director, who was also a doctor in anthropology, wanted to reflect the reality of war in his film “as far removed as possible from the hustle and bustle of communication media and politicians”. Kvedaravičius, who met his death aged 45, had already filmed “Mariupolis” (2016) in the city.

In Bilbao, directors and representatives of the institutions working with ZINEBI will present the contents of the programme and will discuss the critical situation the Ukrainian population is undergoing and, most particularly, the case of professionals working in the artistic and cultural sectors.

 

SESSIONS AT THE GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM IN BILBAO

ZINEBI will be scheduling three sessions in the Auditorium of Guggenheim Bilbao Museum on 13 and 15 November. A Ukrainian documentary short film and a feature film, produced after the Russian invasion, will be screened each session. The films selected for this programme are:

  • “Letter to a Turtledove” (“ЛИСТ ДО ГОРЛИЦІ”, Dana Kavelina, 2020) (21 min)
  • “One Day in Ukraine” (“ДЕНЬ УКРАЇНСЬКОГО ДОБРОВОЛЬЦЯ”, Volodymyr Tykhyy, 2022) (78 min)
  • “Liturgy of Anti-Tank Obstacles” (Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk, 2022) (12 min)
  • “Mariupolis 2” (Mantas Kvedaravičius & Hanna Bilobrova, 2022) (110 min)
  • “Peace and Tranquility” (“МИР І СПОКІЙ”, Myro Klochko & Anatoliy Tatarenko, 2022) (12 min)
  • “ Overcoming the Darkness” (Kinodopomoha Collective, 2022) (70 min)

Before the films are screened on Sunday 13 November, representatives of institutions and the Ukrainian audiovisual industry will attend a public event in Azkuna Zentroa’s Sala Bastida on 12 November. On the same day there will also be a first screening in the Official Section of the Ukrainian-Danish-Dutch co-production “Outside” (“НАЗОВНІ”, Olha Zhurba, 2022), which will be a contender in the International Competition ZIFF – ZINEBI First Film, for “opera prima” feature films.