Documentary almanac Open Access
Documentary almanac Open Access
In 2011, a new law was adopted in Ukraine, ‘On Access to Public Information’. It allows information to be requested from state authorities which had previously been inaccessible, or even closed to any ordinary person. This law was approved at a time when the authorities are on the offensive against the people’s democratic freedoms, the level of corruption is high and many laws are neglected altogether. Five people and their associates decided to challenge the system. They bumped into a certain problem or a serious question, as the state or some officials were not performing their duty. The lack of transparency, indifference, private interest, and a lack of responsibility by the country’s leaders – that is what the characters in these documentary films have stood up to. They live in different parts of Ukraine, they do not know each other. They are united by one thing only – a desire to solve the most important issues by taking advantage of the possibility to apply for public information.
Director
Volodymyr Tykhy
Director
Dmytro Konovalov
Dmitro Konovalov is a documentary filmmaker, Ph. D. in Philosophy. The field of his scientific and creative interests includes research of the processes discriminatory myths are created and analysis of the practices of constructing the “Other” in mass media. He is currently working on a project of a documentary devoted to the problems of two waves of internally displaced persons in Ukraine (the 1986 Chernobyl disaster and the annexation of Crimea and the Donbass war in 2014), who had to face discrimination by Ukrainian society.
Dmytro is a participant and winner of Ukrainian and international film festivals. He took part in the creation of the film almanac “Open Access” (short film “Afghan”), which became a tool for promoting the Law “Access to Public Information”. His filmography includes films devoted to the problems of people who have faced marginalization and stigmatization by society. His documentary projects have been supported by USAID, UNITER and the IDFA Bertha Fund.
Dmitry Konovalov graduated from the first master’s degree in gender studies at the European Humanities University in Minsk. Now he is an associate professor in the Department of Media Communications KhNU and a senior lecturer in the Department of Television KhDAK.
