A group of Ukrainian volunteers hosted a four-day Film Festival in STUDIO BUBEC, drawing a small yet diverse audience for screenings, discussions and an art exhibition exploring life and resilience during wartime.
The event, titled Ukrajinské dny — Làska navzodory (“Ukrainian Days — Love despite all”), took place from Feb. 24 to 27 and featured a touching lineup of contemporary Ukrainian films alongside an art exhibition and presentations from several NGOs.
Martin Pertl, director of STUDIO BUBEC, alongside Marichka Kosiychuk and Vira Karpinska helped organize and curate the event.
“It’s been such a great week for me,” said Pertl, who is also the founder of the crowd-funded NGO named ESPERO, which provides equipment and support for Ukrainian forces in the front lines.
The four year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine gave the event additional resonance as audiences and volunteers reflected on the role of culture and art during wartime.
Artist Sofiia Korotkevych presented a heartwarming art collection commemorating the memory of the Steppe, a vast grass field prominent in southeast Ukraine. Korotkevych’s friends who serve in the army sent her blades of grass from the area which she then used for creating dry point prints and burnt herbariums fused in glass for the exhibit.
Korotevych projected sketches and writings by Ukrainian civilians, describing their favorite memories of the Steppe. “After the war is over, this landscape won’t be anything like it used to be,” Korotkevych said.
The event also featured documentaries such as “Dear, Beautiful, Beloved,” a gut-wrenching film showcasing the evacuation of the elderly and the devastated landscapes of Ukrainian land. Even as the film ended and the credits rolled, the audience sat in silence.
Ukrajinské dny — Làska navzodory concluded on a hopeful note with a final screening of the short film “U Are the Universe”—a funny, yet heartbreaking sci-fi film about a Ukrainian space trucker stranded in space during earth’s destruction who suddenly receives a message from a lone woman in a distant space station.
During a presentation from the ESPERO foundation, volunteer Marichka Kosiychuk spoke about the cultural role of events in times of crisis.“Art becomes something that holds people together and helps them reflect on this reality,” Kosiychuk said.
Kosiychuk and Pertl will both return to Ukraine in the coming weeks to deliver four cars to a military unit in the eastern front lines as part of the organization’s ongoing support efforts.
“The line between civilian and soldier has become blurry,” Pertl said, reflecting on how the war has reshaped everyday life in Ukraine.
Beyond providing resources, the volunteers hope to aid soldiers and provide emotional support amidst the devastating times.
For audiences and volunteers alike, the Ukrajinské dny — Làska navzodory festival was not only meant to showcase Ukrainian cinema, but also to foster strength and hope.
