Winners of the short video stories competition “People and war” have been announced.
It was part of the “StoryMaker: citizen journalism school” project. “As the short video stories competition “People and war” was the first event under this project […], we were particularly pleased to receive such a great response,” said Olena Tanasiichuk, jury chairperson and head of the Open University for Chernivtsi adults, at a press briefing held at Ukraine Crisis Media Center.
The first place at the citizen journalists’ competition was shared between the work “What does the frightened look mean?” by Oleksandr Ivanov (Donetsk) and Maksym Matsiuk (Ternopil) and “We have lost the feeling of home (IDPs Alina and Olena)” by Khrystyna Havryliuk and Maksym Voloshyn (Chernivtsi). The second place was given to “Associations” by Alisa Kulokova (Odesa), “Everyone has their own story” by Khrystyna Mosin (Chernivtsi) and “People and war” by Anastasia Smitiuk (Odesa).
The winning videos among professional journalists are “IDPs have lost not only homes but also the right to vote” by Olena Sorokalitnia (channel TBA, Chernivtsi) and “When you learn to live differently” by Mariia Shymanska (TV channel ZIK, Lviv).
During March activists, civil and professional journalists as well as students sent 29 stories about the life of internally displaced persons from Eastern Ukraine to the jury. The works came from all over Ukraine: Odesa, Donetsk, Chernivtsi, Luhansk, Ternopil, Lviv. “This subject was painful and moving. That is why it was difficult for the jury to choose the winners,” noted Ms. Tanasiichuk.
Serhiy Harmash, chief editor of the Information Agency “Ostrov” informed about his experience of cooperation with the competition organizers: “When the project started to develop, and I saw the works sent by the contestants, I realized that it is precisely those touches in the worldview, which we lack. The Information Agency “Ostrov” is the main media partner of the project.
GPD Charitable Trust has provided financial support for the project and is actively cooperating with the winners of short video stories. “The Trust was organized because we thought that active civil society is the best for the development of society under pressure,” informed Joel Ray Montgomery, representative of the GPD Charitable Trust. The organization promotes the development of independent media in Ukraine in their ability to create quality content on important social issues.
