FALL ON PLUTO 2.0: documentary film-making for children

A documentary film laboratory for teenagers aiming to encourage youth to develop creativity and to promote intergenerational communication. This laboratory was part of the three-month all-Ukrainian online educational program developed by the team of WE: media theater. Within the laboratory teenagers from towns and villages in different regions of Ukraine created films about their grandparents with the mentoring support of the project team.

During the film school course theoretical lectures on documentary filmmaking took place. These featured the basic principles of documentary: interviewing rules, composition basics, types of video shooting and ways of footage cropping. But the main task for the participants was to use the acquired knowledge in practice when filming. Post-production of the footage was done by the project team.

And now – we have 70 videos that connect stories from Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Ivano-Frankivsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Volyn, Zakarpattia, Chernivtsi, Lviv, Zaporizhia regions into one imaginary map. This map demonstrates the polyphony of memories and different chapters of the past, which are united by a common space and life experience. These works allow to follow the cornerstone themes, differences and similarities, intrinsical to the past and present of different Ukrainian regions. When completed, the films were presented in the media and at the project’s social media pages, which was also an important motivation for young participants. 

“We gave young people cinema, a tool to study reality, and then focused them on the experiences and life stories of the elder relatives. This is an opportunity to get a feeling of not only one’s family history, but also the history of our country. 

Artistic Director and Project Mentor – Sashko Brama 

Lectures on Film Theory and Art – Olena Apchel 

PR Manager – Khrystyna Golovko 

Communications Manager – Oksana Kuyansteva 

Managers – Iryna Myronova, Nastya Marusiy

Participants: Tetyana Kostinyuk, Karina Zhuk, Nazar Chudayev, Maksym Vetrov, Anastasiia Shykyrynska, Sofiia Semeniuk, Veronika Kryzhanovska, Mykhailo Magdych, Sofiia Korol, Veronika Huraievska, Nina Stepanko-Vyshnevetska, Sofia Litun, Yaroslava Soloviova, Oleksandra Kunevych, Polina Pavlichenko, Mark Holubovskyi, Nataliia Papish, Maksym Shcherbatiuk, Arina Sytnyk, Victoriia Pereyma, Khrystyna Zabandzhala, Sofiia Chorna, Snizhana Sirosa, Olya Fedyna, Kateryna Dashevets, Daryna Halymon, Maksym Zeruk, Anya Ivanenko, Victoriia Bogutska, Diana Dmytriuk, Sofiia Koshkina, Anastasiia Romanyuk, ROMASHKA, Andrii Salisov, Yana Ivanytska.

Editing Directors: Gala Koziutynska, Sashko Brama, Anastasiia Skoropad, Olesya Pravdyvets, Asya Romanova, Oleksandr Blahoderov, Olena Halai, Kateryna Dashevets, Viktor Petrov, Yana Bieliaieva, Andrii Handziuk, Lesya Diak, Stepan Burban, Andrii Lytvynenko, Yuliia Moroz, Oleh Robko, Khrystyna Bogatchuk, Anna Vidoniak, Artem Kovalevskyi.

Design – Maria Bilinska

Accounter – Anastasiia Drapynska

Legal Affairs – Yurii Helemey

The project was produced with the support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation.