This year International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival Docudays UA prepared a special non-competition program DOCU/ENERGY. It included three films covering topics as diverse as the negative impact of natural resource extraction on environment, environmentally conscious lifestyle and risks of traditional types of energy. Screenings were supplemented by training on energy efficiency in everyday life, conducted as part of the human rights program of the festival. This multifaceted program was organized with the support of Heinrich Böll Foundation in Kyiv.
In addition to raising democratic and gender issues, Heinrich Böll Foundation in Kyiv for many years is engaged in initiatives working against climate change and supporting the green energy solutions. These projects are very important because, according to Olena Anhelova, coordinator of Climate Change and Energy Politics program of the Foundation, currently in Ukraine many hasty decisions aiming for short-term political benefits are adopted but they may significantly worsen the existing crisis. Therefore, Foundation aims to support local organizations working to shift the strategic course of Ukraine to green energy and promote these ideas both among ordinary citizens and among government officials. "In general our projects are educational, for example, research, trainings, summer camps, forums, or a separate program within Docudays UA”, says Olena.
Docudays UA, on its behalf, has a good tradition – to raise issues, important for our state and society, which are not discussed widely in public. Finding and screening the best examples of documentary filmmaking, highlighting controversial or unknown issues is only a part of the festival’s program, it is equally important for the festival to follow up these screenings by the related discussions. Films showed as part of DOCU/ENERGY program were accompanied by extended discussions with experts, helping to contextualize them better for Ukrainian audience.
No Impact Man (2009, directed by Laura Gabbert and Justin Schein) is well known among environmental activists, but it was screened on big screen for the first time in Ukraine. The film documents efforts of one family from Manhattan to abandon the traditional consumer lifestyle with its negative impact on the environment. After screening, the audience had the opportunity to learn more about the educational program Sustainable household, aiming to spread the knowledge about skills for better resources conservation on the planet and reduction of ecological footprint. Moderator of the discussion, Roman Zinchenko, head of Greencubator, Ukrainian Network for Energetic Innovations, believes that such screenings and discussions can stimulate and enhance the environmental awareness of the average Ukrainian citizens: "We are interested not in hardwire technologies but in psychological ones; technology of interaction with the consumer; allowing consumers to save, something we call behavioral changes. In energy sector behavioral changes have enormous potential, and that is exactly what we do in Greencubator – we promote behavioral changes that will transform the culture of consumption."
The need to change the conventional approach to energy production and energy consumption was demonstrated by the next film from the program – Energized (2014), directed by Austrian Hubert Canaval. The film takes the viewer around the world, carefully and critically examining popular types of energy. The audience can see the negative effects of the oil industry in the Arctic, of dam construction in Africa, of operation of nuclear power plants in France or fracking in Canada. At the same time, the film offers inspiring examples of resistance to traditional harmful energy industry and dominance of large corporations. It demonstrates that sustainable development, green energy and struggle against energetic dictatorship exists not only in imagination of the small group of activist dreamers but are indeed a lived reality.
Internationally acclaimed film Virunga (2014) directed by Orlando von Einsiedel concluded DOCU/ENERGY program. It explores the theme of the negative environmental impact of the struggle for natural resources on the African continent. Of course, the documentary about the horrors of war cannot leave Ukrainian viewers indifferent. However, Virunga also raises questions about less obvious consequences of military conflicts. It highlights negative impact of wars unleashed by mankind on our environment and other creatures that inhabit it together with us. Additionally, it draws attention to the role of profit hungry corporations in conflicts waged over access to valuable resources all over the world.
DOCU/ENERGY program of the International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival Docudays UA became a part of an important human rights and educational effort to popularize the ideas and values of sustainable (green) social change. As Roman Zinchenko emphasized, in the future, themes raised in these films will definitely find their expression in experiments and ideas of Ukrainian activists.
Nadiya Chushak, coordinator of human rights programs Docudays UA
On the photo: No Impact Man
