The New German Cinema Festival opened in the capital with its 31st edition, starting with a screening of the musical biopic Cologne 75 by director Ido Fluk, which was presented at the Berlinale.
“Art in difficult times can give hope and provide guidance,” said Lisa Heike, press attaché for culture at the German Embassy in Ukraine, at the opening, emphasizing the importance of cultural events during wartime.
In the coming days, Kyiv residents will be able to see six key German premieres of the year, including a potential Oscar contender and a new film by Tom Tykwer.
After the screenings in Kyiv, the program will travel to other Ukrainian cities: Lviv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Chernivtsi, and Dnipro.
The festival is organized by the Goethe-Institut in Ukraine in cooperation with the film company Arthouse Traffic, with the support of general partner German Films and official partner ProCredit Bank.
The Ukrainian children’s art festival “Veselka” was held in Novi Sad, Serbia, organized with the participation of the Ukrainian Embassy and the Ukrainian diaspora. The event became a platform for cultural unity and support for Ukrainian families living in Serbia.
The Veselka festival brought together children and families of Ukrainian origin from different cities in Serbia, offering them master classes, concerts, and interactive zones. The aim of the event was to preserve ties with Ukrainian roots, support the emotional well-being of migrant children, and strengthen the cultural infrastructure of the diaspora.
Exact data on the number of Ukrainian citizens and residents in Serbia varies. According to the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs, approximately 22,000 Ukrainian citizens have been registered in the country since the start of the war.
However, statistics on the number of Ukrainians living permanently or under temporary protection are not published regularly.
As Serbian Economist reports, the first Ukrainian Literature Festival organized by the Ukrainian Center “Triglav” in cooperation with the Embassy of Ukraine in Serbia took place in the Serbian capital.
The event united Ukrainian writers, translators, literary critics and Serbian fans of Ukrainian culture.
According to the organizers, the goal of the festival is to popularize modern Ukrainian literature abroad and develop cultural dialogue between Ukraine and Serbia.
The festival included readings by Ukrainian authors, presentations of translations into Serbian, panel discussions and meetings with translators working on adapting works by Ukrainian writers for local audiences.
New translations of Ukrainian works into Serbian were presented during the festival. Serbian publishers emphasized that interest in Ukrainian culture has grown significantly after 2022.
https://t.me/relocationrs/1569
The Italian city of Trento will host the Ukro-2025 festival of Ukrainian culture on September 28, UkrInform reports with reference to the Ukrainian Newspaper in Italy.
The event will take place at the Trentino Music Arena in San Vincenzo with the support of the Trento City Council and will be held in parallel with Oktoberfest, uniting cultural traditions of Central Europe and Ukraine.
The festival, founded in Milan in 2015, is being held for the seventh time. Previously Ukro was hosted by the cities of Milan, Bergamo, Brescia, Padua, Venice and Bologna.
The program includes concerts by Ukrainian performers, dance and theater groups, craft fair, gastronomic presentations, master classes and charity initiatives. A special element will be the collective artwork DIM-UKRO, created by hundreds of participants.
The organizers expect more than two thousand visitors and emphasize that the festival not only popularizes Ukrainian culture, but also promotes intergenerational dialogue and support for the diaspora.
On April 24, the second edition of the European Festival: Ukrainian Spring”.
The first concert event of the festival was preceded by a reception hosted by the German Embassy in Sweden. The opening was attended by representatives of the Swedish government and parliament, ambassadors of foreign countries, as well as cultural and public figures.
“It is a real honor to organize this reception today, and support for Ukraine is very close to our hearts. Every day we think about the terrible ordeal, when the nights are filled with air raids and attacks and many troubles and difficulties. At the Ukrainian Festival, we are talking about how best to support Ukraine in its struggle to define its own history and defend its sovereign state in peace and freedom,” said Joachim Berthele, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Germany to Sweden, at the opening ceremony.
The festival is organized under the coordination of the Ukrainian Institute in Sweden by a number of diplomatic and cultural institutions from different countries working in Stockholm, as well as with the support of the European Commission and the European Union Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC).
The concept of the festival is to present Ukraine as an integral part of the common European cultural heritage.
“All our efforts should be aimed at supporting Ukraine. Every cultural event should draw attention to the terrible crime that Russia continues to commit on Ukrainian soil. Music cannot stop the aggressor, but it can be a weapon, and we need to be reminded every day to get it: Ukraine not only exists and has a voice, Ukraine is an integral natural part of Europe,” said Natalia Pasichnyk, director of the Ukrainian Institute in Sweden, pianist.
At the opening concert, she and the Calmus vocal ensemble from Leipzig presented a new vision of Johann Sebastian Bach’s world-famous work “The Well-Tempered Clavier” with religious texts and vocal arrangements.
“Natalia Pasichnyk is a co-author of Bach’s new musical work with the Calmus Ensemble from Leipzig. This is a world premiere on stage, and it is also the first performance for Calmus in Stockholm. So we are looking forward to a very special evening,” said Joakim Berthele before the concert.
Calmus vocalists emphasized that they believe that supporting attention to Ukraine through cultural events is important and effective.
“It definitely works when we keep reminding people about Ukraine at our concerts. From the very beginning of the full-scale invasion, we always sang Mykola Lysenko’s Prayer for Ukraine at our concerts – “God, Great, One”. We sang it to tell people: “There is a war in Europe!” We did this in the United States and everywhere we performed. I’m convinced that it definitely helps when we combine art and people’s awareness of what’s going on,” said Friedrich Brax, one of the members of Calmus Ensemble.
The organizers dedicated the first concert day to the memory of opera singer Vasyl Slipak. He was a soloist at the National Opera in Paris, went to defend Ukraine, and was killed by a Russian sniper near Bakhmut on June 29, 2016. Each day of the festival is dedicated to an artist-warrior who died at the front.
The festival will run until May 7, with the grand finale featuring a performance by world-renowned Latvian violinist and conductor Gidons Kremer and his Kremerata Baltica orchestra.
Photos and videos from the gala reception and concert: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1NUlzjHORdW8qRGtyTC4bhyPl2wY8GfQo?usp=drive_link
The full program is available on the festival’s website: https://www.europeanspring.eu/program
From April 24 to May 7, 2024, Sweden will host the European Festival: Ukrainian Spring, which this year will bring together 12 cultural events. Stockholm will host a variety of events that reflect Ukraine’s interaction with the European cultural context in different ways.
The concept of the festival is to present Ukraine as an integral part of the common European cultural heritage. This connection is emphasized by the festival’s slogan: “Reflections in each other’s eyes – Ukraine in Europe and Europe in Ukraine.”
The organizers are convinced that today the ultimate goal of all cultural events dedicated to Ukraine abroad should be to focus public attention on Ukraine’s struggle and victory in the war unleashed by Russia. And the primary task is to once again remind people of the need for increased assistance to protect us from the aggressor.
Therefore, this year, each of the 12 days of the festival will be dedicated to one of the Ukrainian artists who went to defend their country and died at the front.
