Lecture series, 13-17 November, 2021. Travelling Docudays UA
The lecture series DOCU/CLASS: What films do we watch? on docuspace.org was a part of the Travelling Docudays UA.
General description:
This is a new format for our online cinema which will help you dive deep into the history of documentary cinema, explore the special features of narrative construction, the characteristics of the relations between the filmmaker and the protagonist, and learn about the current trends in documentary cinema.
“Despite our longing for ‘live’ cultural events, there are certain doubtless advantages to this new digital world, such as the increasing accessibility of films. But when you choose a few films that aren’t ‘to your taste,’ you can lose interest in documentaries forever and not even know how many beautiful films are out there which could stun you,” says Yulia Kovalenko, a Docudays UA programmer. “We’ve decided to create a short but practical course of lectures which will help you grasp and structure your knowledge about the diversity of documentary cinema. Three stories about three different aspects of contemporary documentary filmmaking using the examples of films which can be watched in September–December during the Travelling Festival in your region or just on docuspace.org. DOCU/CLASS: What films do we watch? is an online course for those who want to find their favorite documentaries.”
The course lecturers are: Olha Birzul, a culture manager and film programmer; Oleksandr Teliuk, a film historian and the head of the Dovzhenko Centre film archive; and Alex Malyshenko, a freelance film journalist. From 13 November and until the end of the month, a new lecture of the course will come out every Saturday.
All lectures are in Ukrainian.
Course’s trailer:
Program of the course
13 November: “Nothing true and everything real: Experimenting with form” by Olha Birzul
Documentary filmmaking, like a true revolutionary, has come a long way in the struggle for its independence from traditions, stereotypes, and prejudices. It grew out of ordinary chronicles and ethnographic sketches, fell into the net of propagandists, but eventually defended its right to artistic interpretation rather than an objective depiction of reality. This lecture will become not only a guide in a diverse field of directorial experiments but also will tell in detail about the genres, methods, and techniques of modern non-fiction cinema referring to specific films from the programme of the 18 Travelling Docudays UA.
Olha Birzul is a culture manager and film programmer. She has degrees in Ukrainian and English, Journalism, and Book Design. In addition, she studied culture management at the EU programmes Culture and Creativity and Developing Your Film Festival. In 2006–2013, she worked for Ukrainian culture publications as a journalist and editor. In 2009, she joined the Docudays UA team, where she was a curator, programmer and DOCU/CLASS education platform coordinator for ten years. Between 2016 and 2018, she coordinated See Ukraine: Docudays UA Travels the World, the festival’s cultural diplomacy project. In 2019–2021, she was the head of the Film Sector at the Ukrainian Institute, a public institution which establishes international culture connections between Ukraine and the world. She gives lectures on documentary cinema and consults for film projects at various stages of production.
20 November: “Documenting violence: The ethical challenge in non-fiction film” by Oleksandr Teliuk
Ethical issues in documentary filmmaking stem from its belonging not only to the history of cinema but also to documentary media. While the difference between documentary filmmaking and journalism is apparent in a more reflective, deliberate, and author’s vision of reality, its difference from the feature film in the age of hybridization of genres is often less noticeable. The problem point where documentary filmmaking still differs from feature films is the depiction of scenes of real non-simulated violence and death. Addressing the ideas of Vertov, Bazin, and Sontag, we will try to consider how documentary filmmaking managed to solve the problem of ethical display of violence and death on the screen at different times.
Oleksandr Teliuk is a film historian and head of the film archive at the National Oleksandr Dovzhenko Centre. He co-curated the VUFKU: Lost & Found (2019) and Cry! Call! Burn! (2020) exhibitions at Dovzhenko Centre’s Film Museum, as well as numerous film screenings at the Odesa International Film Festival, the Molodist International Film Festival in Kyiv, the 86 International Film and Urbanism Festival, the Docudays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival and others. He co-compiled the publications Film Revision of Donbas (2017, 2018), (In)visible Chornobyl (2017), The Anthology of Ukrainian Film Criticism of the 1920s (2018-2021).
27 November: “It’s all history now: How non-fiction cinema shows real events” by Alex Malyshenko
Feature and documentary stories have a lot in common. In both, we follow the main characters, watch the conflicts being resolved, and experience dramatic events. But there is one key difference: documentary stories draw strength from reality. It is unpredictable and more surprising than the plot twists of the most bizarre Hollywood screenwriter. We invite you to learn more about what non-fiction stories consist of, how they are told, and to study this incredible world of documentaries on your own after the lecture.
Alex Malyshenko is a moderator, freelance film journalist. Writes for LB.ua, Ukrayinska Pravda, Your Art, Moviegram and other publications. He was involved as a programme coordinator and pre-selector for the Docudays UA film festival. Co-curated the film promotion course at Terrarium.
