From December 6 to 8, the “Ukrainian Cinema Days” took place at the Casa del Cinema in Rome. Organized by the Embassy of Ukraine in the Italian Republic with the support of the State Film Agency of Ukraine, this event, which fosters Ukrainian-Italian collaboration through cinema and enhances Ukraine’s cultural image, was held for the third time.
As part of this cultural event, TheDBpost played a role as a technical partner. The company was responsible for adapting the films for the Italian audience to ensure maximum comfort for viewers during the screenings.
The opening film was the psychological drama Honeymoon by Zhanna Ozirna. The director addressed the audience via video message and shared insights into the making of this psychological drama about a young couple trapped in occupation.
On Saturday, December 7, viewers had the opportunity to watch the documentary drama Yaroslav the Wise and participate in a discussion with director Olesya Nohina, who shared her impressions of working on the film and emphasized the importance of creating cinema that reconstructs our historical past.
On Sunday, December 8, a panel discussion was held on the genre diversity of Ukrainian cinema, state-level industry support, and collaboration with Italian filmmakers. Participants included Andriy Osipov, Chairman of the Council for State Support of Cinematography of Ukraine; director and producer Oleksiy Komarovsky; TV journalist and author of the documentary series Ukrainian Military Intelligence and military officer Artem Shevchenko; and Italian director and screenwriter Andrea Magnani.
The “Ukrainian Cinema Days in Rome” were attended by diplomats from the Ukrainian Embassy in Italy, including Counselor Oksana Amzhadin and Second Secretary for Culture Olena Kholiavitska; the head of the NGO “UkrKinoFest” and producer Andriy Nohin; director and producer Oleksiy Komarovsky; Andriy Osipov; TV journalist and military officer Artem Shevchenko; lead auctioneer of Sweet.tv Oleksandr Rezunov; and Yurii Vitiak, coordinator of the event.
Notably, the program featured films of various genres, including documentaries (We Were Recruits, Air Breakthrough to Azovstal: Sky, Yaroslav the Wise, Culture VS War: Serhiy Mykhalchuk, Culture VS War: Akhtem Seitablaiev, Culture VS War: Kostiantyn and Vlada Liberovy) and feature-length films (Honeymoon, The Taste of Freedom, Me, “Pobieda” and Berlin, Egregor). A special highlight was the film Long Escape (international title: Jailbird), a result of Ukrainian-Italian collaboration and a significant contribution to cultural dialogue.
Among the showcased films, particular success was achieved by the documentary Air Breakthrough to Azovstal: Sky from the series Ukrainian Military Intelligence. This film is dedicated to the unique and complex operation by Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence in the spring of 2022 to establish an air corridor to the Azovstal steelworks for evacuating the wounded and delivering weapons, ammunition, communications equipment, and reinforcements to the defenders of Mariupol, besieged by Russian forces. In February 2024, the film received an award at the inaugural national festival of films made during the war, Cinema For Victory.
Additionally, Andriy Osipov met with the Ambassador of Ukraine to the Vatican, Andrii Yurash, to discuss prospects for organizing special screenings of Ukrainian films in the Vatican.
The event was supported by the Yuliia Ihnatchenko Foundation, which facilitates various cultural initiatives aimed at preserving and protecting national identity, especially crucial during the challenging times of war.
Оrganizers: Embassy of Ukraine in the Italian Republic, State Film Agency of Ukraine, NGO “UkrKinoFest”, Yuliia Ihnatchenko Foundation.
