What is happening with the film industry: about the present and future of Ukrainian cinema

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Almost a year has passed since Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, which radically changed all our plans and expectations. The Ukrainian film industry was also affected by the changes. At the beginning of spring last year, most film projects were frozen, filming stopped, film specialists often reformatted their work. Someone set up volunteer hubs instead of filming pavilions and film productions, someone took up arms and went to fight against the enemy. These and other factors prompted us to analyze and investigate the current state of the Ukrainian film industry in order to understand what the future holds for it. Thus, the Ukrainian Film Academy held an anonymous vote among Ukrainian film experts, in which anyone could participate. The results were quite predictable. Most of the 400 respondents did not go abroad after the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia, but remained in their homeland, in Ukraine. Those who did leave are now mainly in Europe: Germany, Poland, Great Britain. There, they either try to continue their professional activities and take an active part in cultural politics and activist activities, or they focus on volunteer activities. Most cinematographers continue to work in the film industry, sometimes doing volunteer work at the same time. That is, we can hope that we will be able to avoid a protracted period of stagnation of Ukrainian cinema, to which major crises often lead. Documentaries, which record the reality “here and now” and do not require significant budgets for production, unlike the creation of artistic game content, are currently the most active. The state budget for the film industry was significantly reduced in 2022 after the sequestration and redistribution of funds to more urgent industries, such as military and defense. In the budget for 2023, 136.7 million hryvnias have been allocated, as opposed to 1.71 billion hryvnias, which were initially allocated for 2022. Therefore, filmmakers do not have to rely on state funds. Therefore, one of the options is to apply for help from international funds, institutions and institutions that provide support to Ukrainian film professionals. For example, the recent grant program of the Ukrainian Film Academy together with Netflix. Are there other opportunities for various industries and forms of film and serial production. However, as it turned out, few specialists know about such grant programs. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen communications so that employees of the film industry are informed about all the opportunities and incentives for their professional activities. Currently, the financial component of the film production process is urgent. In the conditions of war, culture often remains an underfunded industry, since other areas of the country’s defense are of course prioritized. However, culture is the heritage that we are creating now, and we will receive fruits for posterity in the future. Art is a reflection of modernity and a slice of the formation of society in crisis situations. Therefore, currently the film industry has to find even more ways to continue to exist and create. And for this, we have to further consolidate joint efforts in the direction of finding financing or co-financing of film production. It is necessary to look for and encourage partners, work together and show the international community as much as possible the benefits of supporting Ukrainian cinema. Despite all the circumstances, films will continue to be shot and released for rental on big screens. For example, the filming of the films “You are Space” and “Lessons of Tolerance” have recently ended. In the spring, the documentary “The Day of the Ukrainian Volunteer” was shot and it has already visited international film festivals. The film “The Region of Heroes” was also released, and the film “Schedryk” has been gathering viewers in cinema halls for over a month. And these indicators are not falling. With the help of the international community, we have all the opportunities to continue supporting Ukrainian film production at the proper level.

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