you, as usual in this studio we will talk about how culture helps fight for us, fight against disinformation, how russia uses culture, as, in particular, disinformation, and on an incredible scale, we will talk about the fact that once again russian propaganda from appeared at the a-class festival, that is, one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world. the venice film festival, two ukrainian films were shown there, which i hope you and i will see soon, but also a work about the unfortunate russian soldiers from a person who made several films for rashi today, and now she made a tape, someone sent her to the occupied territories, and she spent seven, i think, months with and... with

the russian military and made an incredibly sympathetic film about them, like told by people who watched it. today we will also talk about our films, because we will talk with the director of one of these films, olga zorba, and we will also talk about russian propaganda, how to fight it in general, and whether we have enough of information state policy, to do this, but before that... we will talk about a directly related topic, which is actually very important, now we have the ministry of culture and information policy, it got a new head, got a new name, the department will now be called the ministry of culture and strategic communications, headed by mykola tochytskyi, a long-time diplomat. experience that caused

quite different opinions in different people, both in people's deputies and in artists, but opinions were divided roughly so, some who did not understand this step said, what is a diplomat here at all, if we are talking about culture, about information policy, about some kind of communications, about countering disinformation, and here is a diplomat, he was thrown, as iryna gerashchenko wrote into a field completely unfamiliar to him, while others said no. for example, artists, for example, denys ivanov, distributor and producer, he said that he collaborated with mr. mykola once, and said that he has an absolutely adequate vision of culture, understands it significance, and may well fit into the ministry, which, i will remind you, is constantly criticized in one way or another, so he can become a minister who, well, at least not so actively will be criticized, mr. mykola, another...

such a trigger for ukrainian society, he , when he was a teammate of andriy yermak, the head of the president's office, and he was his deputy from april, before that he was the deputy minister of foreign affairs of ukraine, and even before that, he was engaged in diplomatic activities in various countries, in belgium, in luxembourg, and in he has two education, one legal, actually, the institute of international relations, where he studied together with andriy yarmak, and even earlier he graduated. he graduated from the faculty of french-english philology, he should be engaged in translations at the shevchenko institute, so you see, the new minister is partly representative of his vision, in particular, he says that he will pay special attention to countering disinformation, and i will tell you that there there is a lot of work, i don't even know if he will manage. it's one ministry with that, but

with culture it's really connected because the previous version of the ministry of culture is the ministry of culture and information policy, it was enough, in my opinion, that these two topics were divided and not very shared, they cooperated, or rather, because culture is one thing, information policy is completely different, we can now to mention some of the other ministers there, and here, for example, the previous minister of culture oleksandr tkachenko, and he was very... criticized, after the mountain, just the critics were against him, he was fired, in the end, but he was more involved in information policy, that is, i would prefer call the department of his time the ministry of information policy and then culture, but in general this ministry causes quite a lot of different conversations and skepticism, people even say that we do not need such a ministry, but people forget that there should be a state policy in the field of . and

the same countering of disinformation, it very often intersects with art itself, and because, as i have already said, above, russia uses it very well, very skillfully. i will tell you that at the moment i do not see such opposition, or i see it weak enough, the ministry of culture did not deal with it effectively either, we had many bright promotions, but almost all of them were private, and we also have a state cinema, which has no vision for the development of our cinema at all. there is no policy, it still has no strategy, and it is even worse if we are talking about international film festivals, and it is precisely on them that russia exerts influence, constantly pushing its propaganda films here and there, which are veiled under such

liberality, under the fact that everyone should sympathize , but state cinema is not at all now bets on these films, which can travel to international film festivals. where does cinema bet on commercial ukrainian cinema on tv series, but listen, soon we, our filmmakers, will have nothing to go to these film festivals with and something, at least something to contrast with russian propaganda films, because we have talked with you more than once about the fact that films are not just presented at the festival, these films are shown there, they are discussed by the audience, film crews pass by, film crews arrive, they communicate with this audience, they distribute interview... this is a huge, very important media platform that we need to use, well, judging by everything, at least the state cinema i think that this platform is unimportant and you can score on it, well , we'll see what actions the new

minister will take of culture and strategic communications, and now we are moving directly to the venice film festival, which is currently underway, this is the festival. and we can now see the red carpet as the opening ceremony, and the festival, of course, and the information about it is spreading around the world media like hotcakes, because it's a festival that's focused on, like cannes film festival is usually focused on, berlinale, we usually really like, well , a lot of us like to see the dresses that people came in. on the red carpet, who even came there, and we choose some funny moments from all these ceremonies, or on the contrary, sensitive, sensual moments, for example, angelina jolie talked to her fan, who is very sick, who cannot get out of bed, but here he he he there

appeared and she knelt down there so that it would be more convenient to talk to him, and this also spread across the world media, and crazy. it's full, it's discussed, it's a whole week of discussions, even a little more, people on social networks share their different impressions about the films they've seen, well , of course, it's important, it's important to consider that the visual component also takes place, and that any promotions , which, for example, our filmmakers will want to make there, must be very carefully verified and preferably bright, interesting, or again... get into the media, which our filmmakers did this time, i want to tell you about the films that our ukrainians showed at the venice film festival, first of all, this is the honeymoon, i am waiting for this film, because honestly i confess, i gave

such small consultations to the actress of the main role, the fact is that it is about newlyweds who spend their honeymoon. a month in the occupation, there is a story about this couple who were stuck in the occupation, they refused to leave and now they are sitting locked in their apartment, they are knocking, i am i understand the russians, and you know, at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, we were very worried about how our film producers would touch on the subject of the occupation, the full-scale invasion, precisely in game films, and very often talked about the fact that it was too early to make films that would directly touch on such complex topics it seems to me that so far, and judging by the trailer, at least, the authors approached the topic delicately enough, there is no provision for showing any russian atrocities, it is simply a chamber story of a young couple

who encountered a full-scale war in such circumstances, and it's more of a, you know, chamber psychological drama, i think, of the two. we will drop everything here, tanks there, taras, ah, well, and another film that was shown at the venice film festival, ukrainian, it has the following title: songs of the slowly burning earth, the film is a documentary, it was made by, ah, ... olga zhurba and she, well, i read the reviews, it is clear that i have not seen

this film either, now we can watch its trailer, and it is like this, people who watched it already call it a diary of the first two years of a full-scale invasion, where we are shown a sufficiently large growth of different people, different emotions, different events, and i would really like to ... watch this film already from the trailer, it is clear that visually it is very interesting and bright, and also, well, i'm just interested in watching our documentarians, who do their work very well, usually, let's see an excerpt, on the neck of the corpse, the existing chains, the cross, half of the heart with the inscription i will always be there.

well, we will talk to olga in just a few minutes minutes, and now i'll tell you what, too... our filmmakers report on the betrayal of daria pesell, the producer and producer of this tape in particular, she wrote that she went to see a film against which there were warnings, it was called russians at war, it's called a documentary a film by a certain anastasia trofimova, who, as i said at the beginning of our program, shot tapes for rasha todei, now she has... made, apparently, a completely propaganda film, like many russian cinematographers, she

now disguises herself as a russian woman , i.e she positions herself everywhere as a russian-canadian director, and the producers also call her film french-canadian, not russian, we see these russian soldiers, with whom the director spent seven months of her life, who... let her go there, again, themselves we understand, and judging by what dasha described, the film evokes sympathy for the russian military, she also writes that the director does not at all emphasize that russia started this war in 2014, it starts the war in 202, and in general i wonder how my country could do this to do, after all... this has never happened, that is, again, there is no reflection that russia has been constantly attacking various countries for

many, many years, and this is no wonder, that is, aggression in ukraine, well, unfortunately, not surprising, and i want to quote daria baselya, she writes, i quote, she addresses, by the way, she wrote her post in english, she addresses foreigners, this is very important, because we need to communicate, and ... our new minister is settling into a new position, in we are private people in communications, quote: you will feel pity for the people who die in the film and for those who mourn their loved ones, and you should, if you are a normal person, you should feel pity, sadness and emotion, but also remember remember that these people joined the army that invaded an independent country, many of them did it voluntarily, as we learn from the film, it is also worth mentioning bucha, irpin, mariupol and those civilians who were killed there. remember the thousands of children who

were illegally taken from ukraine to russia. while i i am writing this, and you are reading, rockets are flying at ukrainian cities, buttons are being pressed by ordinary russians, or are their crimes less significant just because they claim that they do not know why they are participating in this war? the end of the quote: i will say that the so-called liberal russian media are also engaged in these narratives. and constantly pushes the idea that ordinary russians are not to blame, it's only putin, it's only his entourage, russians don't want to fight, the most i like at this moment is the rain channel, which you... are from the baltic countries, because they are there a lot for yourself allowed, but they show, for example, covering our kurdish operation, they first show these russians who say that putin help, putin where are you, they tell absolutely frankly that their relatives are now protecting donbas, that we

are supporting the so-called svo, right here the presenters are talking about... that ordinary russians don’t want war, it’s only putin, well, that is, they have absolutely nothing in their heads, even people who do not directly work for russian propaganda, but it turns out that they still work for her, anastasia herself trofimova, now we can watch a short video, see what she looks like, she was at a press conference and she was asked, why don't you think that you are whitewashing criminals and humanizing them? she says the following, and i quote: i find this a bit of a strange question. we can, can we humanize or not humanize someone, are there lists of people we can humanize and those we can't. of course, we must humanize everyone. this is a huge tragedy for our region, first of all, and for the whole world. if we do not perceive each other as people, these black and white

stereotypes about each other will lead to continued war. this will only increase the hatred. unfortunately. that's kind of the way that politicians go, but i don't think that's the way that ordinary people should go, end of quote i mean, well we see again, that's it, it's not people, it's all politics, absolutely for all of us some omissions are understandable, send them, but unfortunately, i understand it this way, and not for all foreigners and not in all countries it is read, because it is simply perceived as the protection of people's rights, we, unfortunately, we see a lot of cases when... in european and western european countries , they directly protect the russian military, and also claim that they may be victims of this regime. i want to finally talk to olga zorba, she is currently at the venice film festival with, let me remind you, the director of the film songs

of the slow burning earth. thank you for finding 10 minutes for us, i understand that you have a very busy schedule there. you are doing very important, important things, communication, in particular, but let's talk first about your tape, because i didn't watch it, i only watched the trailer, which is still available, i read the first reviews, and most heard positive reviews, but tell me how you position this tape yourself, how you see it and what do you think it differs from other ukrainian documentaries. filmmakers and filmmakers about a full-scale invasion, what did you put into it? well, first of all, through myself, as a person, all the experiences that i also lived, and i tried to capture and broadcast, transform into the language of cinema, and the changes that

happening that i observe in our society, before you asked about reviews, right? yes , i think you have read the reviews, well, i have only received positive ones so far, no one has scolded you yet, well, listen, it is not for me to evaluate my film, there are special people for this, it is my job to make a film, release it to the world and promote it

narratives that are meant to be destroyed are important to us. myths about ukraine, about our culture and, in general, about the war as a whole, therefore, in this way, i laid down , in my opinion, important and meaningful messages, which i hope will reach international audience, not only ours, because i tried to make this film both for ukrainians and for... an international audience, and i also think about whether the film will be, whether the film will be in the context of today, and how it will be read in several . generations, it was important to me to make a film that would be understandable out of context, would be understandable, and for people who will no longer remember, that is, i

also thought about such categories when i was making, when we were shooting, when we were editing and when now we present the film. hello, did you say that you put in some such moments, yes , about our country, about some possible destruction of stereotypes. can you say what it is exactly, what are these moments, what exactly did you want to convey to foreigners and in what way? well, here not only to foreigners, but also to us, i will tell you, because ukrainians have a huge inferiority complex, and it seems to me that the international audience is lulled by russian one-hundred-year-old or 200-year-old propaganda. people, for example, there is a scene that, in my opinion, shows how our society is very, well, i'm

actually proud, even myself when saw what we filmed and how it looks, i am proud of ukrainians, because we have very high spiritual values, and... there are several scenes where we emphasize this without even realizing it, so i wanted to ask olya about this , this is a film by a russian director, the one who says that she is not russian, but russian-canadian, because daria posel wrote a very resonant post, so she told me that you also had to see it all, i sympathize with you once again, although i myself sometimes watch some kind of propaganda, as... for reviews, but it's all terrible hard to watch please tell us your impressions of this russian film. he is still russian, although he is positioned as

french-canadian. and what was the most important impression you observed from the audience at the venice film festival, because we are all constantly frightened by the fact that russia is pushing its propaganda and everyone is following it in a row, is it really so, or is it really going down very well? to the audience of the film festival, and yes, this film is made to the maximum, and this film is made for, it is precisely aimed at an international audience, which, let's say, plays pacifism and is lulled by this darkness, it seems to me that it is already darkness when you have to... to justify everyone, but it seems to me that this is the justification of war criminals at a time when they are still committing crimes, this is also a crime, and i

spoke a little about it at our press conference, because at that time i did not have the opportunity to watch a russian film, because it was after ours, but i read the synopsis of the director, i also read her biography, and the fact that the director worked until... it seems since 2017 the propagandist russian broadcaster rasha today, who is now calling for the genocide of the ukrainian people in general, makes excuses, tells me much more than, there are any there, even professions, or any opinions, that is, i no longer trust, let's say, a person, but - and who worked after, for example, the occupation, she can no longer be disengaged. and of course i was asked this question at the press conference, and then i went to see this film, purely from

a socio-anthropological point of view that i think it is important to know even not so much about the film, how the audience reacts to such films, because in principle this film was obvious to me about what ... it is, but i was interested in how the international audience reacts, and at the premiere i think that was in fact , there are more foreigners, and that’s why it’s difficult to say here, but the very fact that this film was given this platform and the very fact that the director and the team of the company, which by the way... there are france, and canada, and these producers, i just also watched the press conference of this team, ah, i think i don't think so, i'm just i'm sure it's just that. should become

part of the overall crime that they now, instead of, ah, imprisoning, rudely, playing these people, yes, making them responsible for all the ah war crimes, this team is exonerating them, and it's such a washout in general position, this is an even more protracted prolongation of the war, ah, it seems to me that this is catastrophic... well, catastrophic, a really painful situation, and we as ukrainians now need to work out a strategy, how to make sure that this film simply does not get anywhere further, olya, thank you very much, olya, thank you unfortunately, the connection is very bad, but we heard you, thank you for telling us about it, well, we will work out some kind of strategy with the new

minister, we will meet. to the ministry of culture and somehow ask the new minister to try to do something, especially since they say that he understands all the problems, i will tell you in the end, friends, that after all, big film festivals, they remain in many respects, on the one hand , russophile, because if for many years , you have been told about the great russian culture, about the promotion of russian cinema, that's why that russia really she did this very, very much , she always invested a lot of money there in the development of her culture, especially for export, so that everyone in the world admired this culture, people got used to it and, by inertia, respect this russian culture, their representatives, artists, this is on the one hand there is such an attitude, and on the other hand, there is russian money, with which it is quite possible to bribe someone, we cannot assert anything, but more than once we have already had our

film promotions. there were direct conversations that there are well or or directly bought, for example, selectors there at various film festivals, i.e. the people who select films, that is, they took the russian film, selected it, and because of that it was shown at the venice film festival, or at the cannes film festival, there are also a lot of russians, there are a lot of russians at the berlinale, they travel, they buy films from different producers, because at the beginning of the... large-scale invasion, the big majors, that is , the american film studios, the big producers all left the russian market in unison, and the european producers, on the contrary , entered there even more, because there was room, and for example the french are now making great money on the russian market, because the russians have nothing to watch anymore, although they watch it well, because they simply steal these american films and show them in cinemas, but the french, germans, italians

feel great. on those markets, and, unfortunately, the following story is happening, when money, sentiments, long-term informational and cultural policy of russia are doing their job, and ukrainian state policy, on the contrary, is taking a back seat, and this is taking into account the fact that we have resources, considering that we have a lot artists who make very good works, who make good movies, and well, let's, i will repeat myself once again to... monitor and communicate with the new minister of culture and strategic communications. friends, i say goodbye to you, i wish you a nice and peaceful weekend and goodbye until next week.