On October 27, during the 55th Molodist Kyiv International Film Festival, an inauguration of the Dovzhenko National Film Studio happened. The plaque marked its inclusion in the Treasures of European Film Culture. Through this initiative, the European Film Academy recognizes places of symbolic importance to European cinema, as well as sites with historical value that need to be preserved and protected.
Matthijs Wouter Knol, Director of the European Film Academy and a member of the jury for this year’s international competition, attended the ceremony.
“Today we are inaugurating Dovzhenko Film Studios as a Treasure of European Film Culture. The European Film Academy is a community of people who celebrate film culture, but we do more than celebrate it; we also promote and protect it. We believe that film culture is not only about movies, but also about the people and memories connected to the places where those movies were made. We have recognized places in more than 50 countries as landmarks of cinema. Ukraine already has one Treasure of European Film Culture, the Potyomkin Stairs, and today Dovzhenko Film Studios joins them on the list. It is especially meaningful to inaugurate the studio as a Treasure, as it will soon turn 100 in 2028. We Europeans need to know about these places and protect them. I also bring greetings from the President of the European Film Academy, actress Juliette Binoche,” Knol said
Andrii Donchyk, director of Dovzhenko Film Studios, accepted the plaque. He thanked the European Film Academy and Molodist Kyiv International Film Festival, as well as Alik Shpilyuk, artistic director of the Ukrainian Film Academy, and Andrii Khalpakhchi, the festival’s Director General, for the initiative:
“For us, the studio has always been a treasure, a landmark where Paradzhanov, Dovzhenko, and many other outstanding filmmakers worked. Now it is a landmark of European film culture as well. Thank you for this initiative.”
Guests included Luc Jacobs, Ambassador of Belgium to Ukraine; Carlo Colonnella, Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Ukraine; members of the Molodist national jury, CinEast Festival Director Radek Lipka and film director Vyacheslav Turyanytsia; producer, founder of Arthouse Traffic, and Ukrainian Film Academy board member Denys Ivanov; film scholar, Kino-Kolo magazine founder and editor-in-chief Volodymyr Voitenko; film industry expert and former director of Zhovten cinema Liudmyla Hordeladze; and producer, European Film Academy and Ukrainian Film Academy board member Olha Bregman, among others.
After the ceremony, guests toured the Dovzhenko Film Studios Museum. Matthijs Wouter Knol saw costumes that survived the Russian missile strike on the studio’s costume workshop, along with other items from the collection.
Founded in 1989, the European Film Academy brings together film professionals from across Europe, presents film awards, and promotes European cinema.
Photos.Photographer: Kateryna Hrynko
The festival is supported by the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, the State Film Agency of Ukraine, the State Agency of Ukraine for Arts and Artistic Education, and the National Union of Cinematographers of Ukraine.
Embassies and State Institutions
Embassy of Italy in Ukraine
Italian Institute of Culture in Ukraine
Goethe-Institut Ukraine
Embassy of Spain in Ukraine
Embassy of France in Ukraine
French Institute in Ukraine
Embassy of Belgium in Ukraine
Embassy of Spain in Ukraine
Embassy of Poland in Ukraine
Polish Institute in Ukraine
Embassy of the Czech Republic in Ukraine
Embassy of Mexico in Ukraine
Embassy of Argentina in Ukraine
Ukrainian-Danish Youth House
Danish Cultural Institute
German Films
Creative Europe Desk Ukraine
Sponsors and Partners
M.S.L., operator of the Loto-Zabava state lottery
Main media partner: 1+1 Media
1+1 Ukraine TV channel
Kyivstar TV film and television platform
Creative partner: McCANN Kyiv
“ILTA” automotive center in Pechersk
“Piatnytsia” radio station
“Musafir,” a Crimean Tatar restaurant bringing a taste of Crimea to the capital
“Avtostantsiia Podil”, known for its name, chestnut trees, and hot pizza
Festival hotel partners: Radisson Blu Hotel, Kyiv Podil, City Centre, and Mackintosh Hotel
Cinecitta Cafe, Bar & Restaurant at the House of Cinema
Salt Cinema platform and production company
Media Partners
NV.ua
Suspilne
Suspilne Culture
Hromadske
#ProShoKino
Vechyrniy Kyiv
