On November 19, 2024, a meeting with Polish director Jerzy Zalewski took place at Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University, Faculty of Philology and Journalism on the topic “Film Workshop. Documenting the War in Ukraine”.
“We welcome the director and screenwriter Jerzy Zalewski at Faculty of Philology and Journalism. We already have a tradition of holding meetings at the faculty within the framework of PR Small Talks with the specialists who have achieved success in various fields. Today, on the 1000th day of the full-scale russian invasion of the territory of Ukraine, we have a symbolic meeting dedicated to the film documentation of the war”, – the guest was introduced by Vice-Rector for Educational Work and Communications Nataliia Blahovirna.
The event was divided into two parts. In the first, Mr. Zalewski talked about documentary filmmaking, and in the second – about feature films.
At the meeting, the director presented a documentary about Anna Valentynovych, a prominent Polish (Ukrainian) journalist, co-founder of the “Solidarity” independent trade union. Mr. Zalewski shared the specifics of documentary filmmaking, as well as the challenges that documentary filmmakers face in wartime.
“Speaking about the future of Ukrainian documentary, I want to say that you are in an incredibly important, special place, in fact, in the epicentre of the world. I used the comparison “in the epicentre” because I saw two destroyed stores in Chernihiv and Kharkiv. What is happening now needs to be documented, because very important events for the whole world are taking place here. For creators, journalists, documentary filmmakers, this is not only a duty, but also a great chance,” Jerzy Zalewski answered a question about the Ukrainian documentary.
Serhii Sturkhetskyi, a journalist, lecturer, and media expert, was also present at the meeting. By the way, on October 21, the media expert told the students of Faculty of Philology and Journalism about the basic principles of journalistic activity and, in particular, the security aspect of video documentation in wartime. The project is implemented within the framework of the Polish Aid-2023 programme with funding from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland.
Information Policy Office
