A special screening of the documentary film «Silent Land» took place in Kyiv as part of the non-competitive program of the 54th Molodist Kyiv International Film Festival.
Currently, Ukraine is among the most heavily mined countries in the world, with approximately 23% of its territory potentially contaminated by landmines.
The film was initiated by UNDP in Ukraine to raise awareness about the issue and highlight the importance of collaborative demining efforts, funded by the government of the Republic of Korea in partnership with the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine and the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.
«Silent Land» by Baza Production illustrates the impact of demining on the lives of Ukrainians, sharing stories of those who work daily to make Ukraine a safer place to live and work. The film's heroes include:
Pavlo Bondarenko, head of the mechanized demining unit of the State Emergency Service in Mykolaiv region;
Natalia Horun, non-technical survey specialist at Norwegian People's Aid Ukraine;
Oleksandr Bonchkovskyi, PhD in Geography and chief scientific consultant at the Society of Ukrainian Researchers.
We thank Andriy Halpakhchi, the General Director of the «Molodist» festival, for the opportunity to present the film at such a significant venue, and Marichka Padalko for moderating the discussion professionally.
The documentary continues its festival journey worldwide. It has already been shown at the Tokyo Short Film Festival in Japan, where it was shortlisted and included in the recommended viewing program that highlights the best short films of the season. The film has also been submitted to a number of prestigious international and Ukrainian festivals, as these stories deserve to be seen by audiences around the globe.