Audiovisual and audio arts sector through the war prism in Ukraine - results of the meeting with representatives of the sector

On June 14, 2022, the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation held an online meeting with representatives of the audiovisual and audio arts sectors "Monitoring of the cultural environment: a online meeting for representatives of audiovisual and audio arts sector" in a round table format.

For two hours, participants shared their views on the current situation in the audiovisual and audio sector, talked about their experience in implementing projects under martial law and discussed issues of supporting Ukrainian culture during the war.

Vladyslav Berkovski, Executive Director of the UCF spoke about the artists support  and noted that "one of the key issues today is to support audiovisual and audio arts. The Foundation is actively negotiating with international institutions to raise funds for the sector".

Dmytro Reshetchenko, Deputy Executive Director for Project Work, noted that the UCF is doing everything possible to make the grant season 2022 happen. "The situation caused by the war is extremely difficult. Some of the projects of the grant season 2022 could not be implemented for a number of reasons. However, we are working to ensure that at least some of the cultural initiatives have to be implemented. By the way, we have preliminary agreements with Netflix for supporting Audiovisual Arts projects. The Foundation has also developed and launched a platform "Cultural Space", through which artists can apply for support for their activities with funds, materials, organizational or, for example, logistics services. We recommend everyone to join and take advantage of new opportunities", - said Dmytro Reshetchenko.

Akhtem Seitablaev, Ukrainian actor, screenwriter and film director of Crimean Tatar origin said: "I am honored to be here, at the forefront. I see what content they want now, in what connotations and in what emotions. This content should fit into the formula that Akira Kurosawa said: "Minimum time, maximum information. It seems to me that it can be a polyphony - an educational component, meanings, narratives, tools to see a portrait of yourself as an artist. To do this, you must use all media platforms - and YouTube, and Tiktok. The audience needs to be targeted, but we need to work with both children and adult viewers. As for the fundamental things, we must take the tradition of sustainable education and transfer it to the future. We are a nation of creators!"

Continuing the discussion, Dmytro Sukholytkyi-Sobchuk, Ukrainian screenwriter, director, founder and organizer of the "Terrarium” scripting platform, mentioned that “the experience of presenting the film at the Cannes Film Festival looks like a return from another planet. Through this mouthpiece of world cinema, it became clear how much the community is not at all familiar with what we, Ukrainians, have to face every day. That is why we need to continue to explain to the international audience why it is important to think critically and be cautious about russia's proactive presence, particularly in the cultural space".

Ukrainian television and film producer, head of the Expert Council of the Ukrainian Television Academy, member of the Ukrainian Film Academy Victoria Burdukova thanked the UCF for its activities during the war and told that: "The audiovisual market is in stagnation. And so far there are no prospects to think that it will improve quickly. The main task is to preserve the sector. As for the creators, we need to understand that we need to work, even if the conditions are not the same as before. You need to make a lot of documentaries. You need to create a hero that is interesting to watch. We will continue to work".

Finally, Tetyana Kablova, Candidate of Art History, Associate Professor, Member of the UCF Expert Council, summed up: "Culture is a civilization. Culture is a translator of what we want to tell people not only in Ukraine but also abroad. As my colleagues have pointed out, culture is "soft diplomacy", "cultural diplomacy". Our culture is both independent and worthy of being presented to the world. That is why we must make every effort to integrate it into all world processes".

The Ukrainian Cultural Foundation is grateful to the speakers and participants for interesting reports, for active discussion of problematic issues of audiovisual and audio art.

Video-meeting is available here. (UA)