The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation’s video project The War Through Children’s Eyes presented in the United States
The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation presented its video project The War Through Children’s Eyes at the first Ukrainian Film Festival in Albuquerque, United States. The project premiered as part of the festival’s noncompetition program.
The War Through Children’s Eyes is a series of monologues by kids living on both sides of the confrontation line about what they had to go through during the War in Donbas. These are short tales about the suddenly collapsed regular life, about the loss of close ones, friends and home. The heroes of these videos were children participating in the Foundation’s Peaceful Summer for Children of the Donbas project. These children’s stories of fear, horror and endurance reveal the tragedy of the entire Donbas region, and at the same time, remind all people about the importance of preserving peace.
According to the Festival’s organizer Natalia Edelman, the Foundation’s project The War Through Children’s Eyes showed foreign viewers the hope for peace that helps people in the Donbas survive, and revealed the complex and multisided structure of the 21st century Ukrainian society.
“An international documentary film festival is another opportunity to show international community the tragedy of children of the Donbas. According to UN data, more than 240 thousand children are living along the confrontation line in the Donbas, and every day they are exposed to the risk of artillery fire. Living right next to an area of fighting leads to a huge stress. Today, children traumatized by war have the chance to undergo a course of summer rehabilitation and receive psychological help under Peaceful Summer for Children of the Donbas project,” Tetiana Kukhotska, the Foundation’s Director for Project Development said.
The documentary film festival in Albuquerque brings together professional independent film directors and producers of Ukraine and the United States. Besides screenings, this event includes various master classes that help exchange experience and improve professional skills of film makers on the two continents.
This year, the festival’s program featured over 20 films devoted to the most diverse topics. The competition program was evaluated by a jury comprised of film director Dirk Norris, actress Robin Reed and film expert Harry Musselwhite. In the Short Film category, they picked the following titles:
1. EYEMO by Maksym Liukov
2. Electroman by Mykyta Skomorokhov
3. Kyiv Story by Mykhailo Masloboishchykov
In the Documentary Film category:
1. FOMO by Vlad Krasinsky
2. Highnoon у Vinti by Dmytro Tyazhlov
3. Legend of the Blue Whale by Michel Ladez
In the Animated Film category:
1. Lahmitko by Oleh Pedan
2. Fingerman by Ivan Shokha
3. Laces by Oleh Fedchenko
The War Through Children’s Eyes videos are premiering every week on the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.
