Discussing Women in War topic we prepare ourselves for future reconstruction of Ukraine

On November 7-10, the Ukrainian Association in Finland launched the VIII Ukrainian Film Days festival in Helsinki. The line-up consisted of powerful films that highlight the topic of Women in War. ‘The idea was to analyze what women’s roles during a war are, how they change and whether our experience differs from others. We believe that exchanging experiences and discussing critical societal issues can help us in terms of rebuilding our society and the reconstruction of Ukraine after the russian-Ukrainian war’, says Nataliya Teramae, coordinator of cultural projects at the UAF.

The festival opened with the Finnish documentary ‘Lotat / Women in War’ (dir. Taru Mäkelä, 1995) about veteran members of the female voluntary paramilitary organization Lotta Svärd, whose history was heavily censored during the Cold War. “It was forbidden to talk publicly about lotat after World War II. If they were pictured then only negatively. This film is a sign of honor to the Finnish military”, said Taru Mäkelä after the screening.  

The Ukrainian documentary ‘Invisible Battalion’ filmed in 2017 aimed to draw public attention to gender discrimination in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as PTSD, and to increase the visibility of the russian-Ukrainian war. “Thanks to our campaign, 63 positions were opened for women in 2016 and some amendments to the law were implemented in 2018”, explained Mariia Berlinska, the founder of the Invisible Battalion project and the director of the Aerial Reconnaissance Support Centre.

The statement that films can be a tool of propaganda, as well as an antidote against it was proved by screening Ukrainian Soviet classics ‘The Rainbow’ (dir. Mark Donskoi, 1943) and one of the best recent documentaries from Ukraine ‘Songs of Slow Burning Earth’ (dir. Olha Zhurba, 2024) respectively. The latter premiered at the Venice Film Festival and received numerous great reviews.

The Ukrainian Film Days is implemented by the Ukrainian Association in Finland and Independent Cultural Initiatives, co-financed by the #ZMINA_Rebuilding program, created with the support of the European Union in Ukraine under a dedicated call for proposals to support Ukrainian displaced people and the Ukrainian Cultural and Creative Sectors, with support from IZOLYATSIA. Platform for Cultural Initiatives, Trans Europe Halles, and Malý Berlín. Ukrainian Film Days are held in cooperation with the National Audiovisual Institute of Finland and the National Oleksandr Dovzhenko Film Centre.