AFS Ukrainian Filmmaker Workshop.

When the American Film Showcase (AFS) staff first brought up a potential Ukrainian filmmaker seminar well over a year ago, I was thrilled to plan and participate in crafting an in-depth seminar for a group of dedicated and brave filmmakers from across the Ukrainian experience, and of course I was honored to be a part of what I hope is the elevation and greater visibility of Ukrainian documentary storytelling. As we began to map out and pick participants for this lab, we knew we would have to rely on the incredible assistance and hospitality of our hosts in Warsaw, where we could safely and effectively all gather to focus on these powerful stories.

I was especially excited to be able to recruit a fantastic storytelling talent, Inbal Lessner, a multi-award-winning editor and producer of years of touchstone documentary features and television series and get her perspectives on these new Ukrainian non-fiction works in progress.

We arrived in Warsaw with a day to prepare and survey the work space, graciously provided by the Polish Film Institute, and took time to walk around Warsaw’s Old Town, remarkably reconstructed literally from rubble and dust of World War II, and we all felt the gravity of both the Polish and Jewish struggles against brutal oppression, and the horrors of war that now were raging again in neighboring Ukraine. I realized that one of the elements we were sure to discuss was the inevitable trauma that artists and subjects face in active wartime, with a number of the film projects dealing directly or indirectly with the conflict.

Our first day of the seminar, and the two days after that, were group screenings and reviews of the seven projects in the lab this year – an open forum to watch, discuss and suggest paths and strategies to get the most out of the stories and styles the filmmakers had brought us.

This was a remarkable and dedicated group, with professional, advanced uniquely Ukrainian style and technique on full display. We discussed not only each story and the plans to finish, but also where those films might go on to achieve a world audience, and in our final three lab days, we watched new edits and scenes being created by the filmmaking teams in our workshop.

Our final day in Warsaw was an open master class for both our Ukrainian cohort and a number of Polish filmmaker professionals and students, with Inbal and I taking turns presenting past works with an eye towards solving the many issues of crafting docs, and what we discovered over the years of both our careers. The session ended with an emotional greeting and acknowledgement from the US Ambassador to Poland, Mark Bresinski, and some tearful farewells to our seminar filmmakers and the wonderful embassy and host staffs at the final reception after.

I’m beyond proud to have been a part of this breakthrough AFS mission, and I truly hope we can continue this work with extended programming and outreach to bring these stories to everyone. Thanks to the entire AFS, State Department and embassy staff (and very special thanks to Ella Shtyka, who was our guiding light for so much of this seminar) and of course our new Ukrainian friends…I will never forget the bravery and artistry I got to witness during this time.

 

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