site.btaUkrainian Documentary Opens SofiaDocuMental Festival on September 25

Ukrainian documentary “Divia” by director Dmytro Khreshko will open Sofia DocuMental on September 25, the team behind the documentary film festival announced on Thursday.

The human rights-focused festival has a selection, divided into seven thematic categories.

“While the films in ‘Democracy Under Fire’ unravel the mechanisms of pressure and show both the strength and fragility of civil society, ‘Past Revisited’ brings together critical cinematic readings of established historical narratives,” explained the organisers.

Those categories feature documentaries like “Mr. Nobody vs. Putin” where a Russian teacher opposes the implementation of propaganda in the school curriculum and “Hacking Hate” in which an investigation of neo-Nazis and digital extremism is carried out by a Swedish journalist.

The categories “Superwomen” and “Personal Revolutions” unite transformation stories that unfold both in the public and intimate spheres. From a female Iranian singer coming back on stage despite the regime to mothers who find the strength to speak out, women search for ways to confront inner contradictions and external injustices. Men also experience the same intertwining between the political and family domains.

Humanism is at the forefront of the two categories “Human/Nature” and “The Future is Now.” The vast virtual spaces occupy and destroy real, physical spaces in “The Island of Nit”. Life here, on the only planet where we dream of all other worlds, requires care and symbiotic connections—fought for both by Hayao Miyazaki in his animations and by the heroes of “When Tomatoes Met Wagner” with their not-at-all-metaphorical seeds. 

The now-traditional section “The Art of Resistance” is also in harmony with this year’s festival motto: “Natural Intelligence Strikes Back,” noted the organisers of Sofia DocuMental.