"Viewers should not decide what films will be shown at the film festival," says OIFF General Director Anna Machukh
The General Director of the Odesa International Film Festival (OIFF) and co-founder of the Ukrainian Film Academy, Anna Machukh, spoke about the preparations for the anniversary festival in the latest episode of the show "About Cinema for You"
This year, the main media partner is 1+1 Media and the informational support is provided by Kyivstar TV OTT platform.
The 15th Odesa International Film Festival is in full swing. This year, Kyiv has become the heart of Ukrainian cinema for an entire week. Anna Machukh, its General Director, discussed how the main national film festival is being prepared in an interview with the host of the program "About Cinema for You" on Kyivstar TV, Volodymyr Rabchun. They talked about what makes the OIFF unique among other festivals, the prospects of Ukrainian cinema and where to find funding for it.
As Anna said, last year the OIFF was held in Chernivtsi. The organizers were grateful for the hospitality, support and kindness shown by the city's residents. However, that festival was quiet and calm, so this year they want more.
"We are the Odesa International Film Festival and we are used to a different scale: we want to show a lot of films and we want a lot of viewers. That is why this year it's Kyiv," commented the OIFF General Director.
Anna shared an interesting fact that the preferences of the audience are not considered when they select films for the festival. The General Director states that the festival itself should offer something high-quality and more exciting for the visitors. The program of the Odesa International Film Festival consists of audience-friendly films. This year, the OIFF program includes seven feature films, some of which were filmed during the full-scale invasion, while others were in the post-production stage.
"This year, Odesa International Film Festival is 15 years old and we decided to dive into the history of Ukrainian cinema," adds Anna Machukh.
In 2022, at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the organizers were not afraid to hold another legendary event for viewers. Anna Machukh shared how they dared to take this step and how the film festival went.
"We immediately started receiving invitations from our international partners to hold a full festival in another country. We decided not to move the entire festival to one country because we had invitations from France and Portugal. We thought it was worth going everywhere. So in 2022, our film festival was traveling. We had film screenings in Portugal, Ireland and Germany. Essentially, our international partners decided that it was worth holding this festival because people abroad should watch Ukrainian films. This is part of cultural diplomacy, which we really need because Russia is investing crazy budgets in propaganda and information warfare. We don't have these budgets, so all we can do is invest our own efforts," told the guest.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to create the uniqueness of the festival that was in Odesa: closeness to the sea, fresh air and summer atmosphere. However, the organizers are doing everything possible to surprise the Ukrainian audience with a quality and exciting program. According to Anna Machukh, everyone is welcome and invited to the festival, as it is the place to enjoy genuine Ukrainian cinema.
This year, the Odesa International Film Festival is held from July 12 to 20 in Kyiv. Tickets can be bought via the link. The full version of the interview with Anna Machukh is available for viewing for free on Kyivstar TV.
