The Venice Film Festival is hosting a “Ukrainian Day” on Thursday, Sept. 8 at the 79th Venice Festival in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and the country’s film industry.
Ukrainian Day will feature a number of initiatives that focus attention on the plight of Ukrainian artists and filmmakers within the context of Russia’s invasion of the country on February 24 and its ongoing war of aggression there. Events will be held between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. local time under the auspices of Venice Production Bridge industry section at the Hotel Excelsior on the Lido.
The Venice Film Festival’s artistic director Alberto Barbera will introduce the opening panel, which will include Ukraine’s ambassador of Ukraine to Italy Yaroslav Melnyk; the head of Ukraine’s National Cinema Institution Marina Kuderchuk; Antonio Lukich, Ukrainian director of Luxembourg Luxembourg, which will screen in competition in Venice’s Orizzonti section this year; Evgeny Afineevsky, director of out-of-competition documentary title Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom; Pavlo Makov, an exhibiting artist in the Ukrainian Pavilion at Venice’s 59th Biennale Arte; Boris Filonenko, the curator of the Ukrainian Pavilion; Polina Tolmacheva, a representative of Ukraine’s Council for State Support of Cinematography; actress, filmmaker and Ukraine cultural attaché Daria Tregubova; and Ukraine producer Andriy Nogin.
The talk will focus on the challenges facing filmmakers inside the war-torn country and on cooperation, including co-production opportunities, between Ukraine and Italy.
Following the panel, there will be a presentation of several Ukrainian projects at different stages of development and production, with the aim of connecting Ukraine filmmakers with international producers and financiers.
The 2022 Venice Film Festival runs Aug. 31 – Sept. 10.
