Natalia Bondarchuk is the CEO of the European Legal Group Diplomat LLC, Vice President of the Research Institute for the Development of Democracy, President of the First Step Student Film Festival, public figure and philanthropist. Natalia has long been the founder of festivals and events in support of talented Ukrainian youth.
For five years in a row, the First Step Film Festival has been held at the initiative of Natalia Bondarchuk and other people who are not indifferent to the fate of young Ukrainian cinema. The festival is a unique platform for screening and discussing student films – works by students of Ukrainian film schools. It is aimed at supporting the creative youth of Ukraine and exchanging experience between student filmmakers and Ukrainian filmmakers. Fostylen’s editorial team talked to Natalia Bondarchuk, a patron and “fairy godmother” of student filmmakers, to find out about the details of the event and the prospects for young Ukrainian cinema.
Natalia, your sphere of influence is quite extensive. For five years now, you have been supporting Ukrainian film students. Why did you decide to move in this direction?
Cinema is one of the youngest and at the same time the most important art forms. Compared to the thousand-year history of music, painting or theater, its history is short, but at the same time no less significant and covers all segments of society. Cinema conveys our feelings, habits, customs, and immerses people in a world of illusions. Films are able to cover almost all spheres of social consciousness, forcing people to comprehend life as something more than the way they perceived it before.
I believe that people who have already somehow made it in this life are simply obliged to help young people. As a mother of two talented children, I know that supporting creative endeavors is extremely important for the younger generation. Without our advice, wise instruction, moral and financial support, young talents may sometimes lack the courage and strength to overcome their doubts and embark on a career path.
What problems does Ukrainian student cinema face today? How influential is support in the form of festivals and workshops for the young generation of filmmakers?
In the early 1990s, with the collapse of the planned economy, the entire film industry collapsed. It so happened that in the first 15 years of independent production in Ukraine, about as many feature films were made as in a couple of years in the 1970s and 1980s.
The year 2010 was a successful one for Ukrainian cinema, when amendments to the Law on Cinematography created a new system of state support for the industry. My point is that funding has always been, is and will be a major difficulty. Young filmmakers have a particularly difficult time with state support. However, there are other concerns besides financial ones. Young guys, film students often lack the practical component, the opportunity to express themselves and present their works in a competitive environment. In addition, lecture hours are not enough to become a professional director or screenwriter. You need advice, constructive criticism and a wise outsider’s perspective, and, of course, practice.
Young film festivals and master classes with masters are extremely important for the creative development and formation of young filmmakers. I understand this, and so do my colleagues who care about the fate of Ukrainian cinema.
Your festival, Natalia, is of enormous importance not only for the students themselves, but for the whole country. Cinema, as you said yourself, is one of the most significant art forms, and what you do is worthy of the highest praise. Tell us, what does First Step mean to you?
For me, First Step is a way to support, guide, and share my experience with young filmmakers, to convince them of the right choice. These guys are the future of the entire industry, which to a greater or lesser extent affects the lives of each of us.
This is the second First Step. The experience of the first festival has shown that this is a very necessary and important thing. The film festival is an additional incentive for students’ creative work. What can I say, even the teachers themselves are sincerely worried about the fate of their students and want them to achieve the best results.
How did you come up with the idea of creating a film festival?
As you know, Odesa is the unofficial capital of Ukrainian cinema. Every year, our universities graduate hundreds of incredibly talented directors, screenwriters, and actors. The art of cinematography, like any other, does not stand still, it is constantly changing, taking on new forms, transforming into new trends. Young people, graduates of Ukrainian film schools, are trendsetters.
It is their works that will soon shape our views on the world, art, and life in general. Each of them has his or her own vision of the classics and the works of the masters. My colleagues and I are well aware that it is always difficult to start. There is often a lack of funding, time, and the right influential contacts for promotion. That’s why we decided to create the First Step Film Festival, a platform that gives aspiring filmmakers a ticket to the big world of cinema, introduces them to famous producers, directors, screenwriters, and influential artists. This is the “first step” on the way to a successful career in the film industry. We give talented young people the opportunity to showcase their work at the festival level, where there is constructive criticism, competition, and the opportunity to be noticed.
How are films selected for participation in the film festival? What are the criteria for films to participate in the First Step?
We received many works. There were, of course, those that didn’t fit the festival level at all: they were filmed on a phone, without a normal plot, with a complete lack of production and acting. We immediately rejected such applications. In the end, about 50 works in different genres and directions were accepted for the competition. This year, we received a lot of questions about submitting social advertising. These are short videos of 2-3 minutes that touch upon important, pressing topics and issues. So we thought, why not, and added another additional nomination to the program. As for the criteria, it is a short film of 8-25 minutes (on average 15). The main thing is to fully reveal the declared topic. Picture and sound quality are also very important.
As they say, “who are the judges”? Tell us more about the jury members and partners.
In 2023, we decided to move away from the classic format of judging by eminent film personalities. No, of course, there were masters, but this year, in addition to them, we decided to invite young professionals.
These are people who have already graduated and achieved something. It was the fresh perspective of young filmmakers that was lacking in last year’s participants. The jury, in addition to me, included Maryna Bagriy-Shakhmatova, a member of the board of the National Union of Cinematographers of Ukraine (NUCU), Serhiy Bukovsky, a Ukrainian non-fiction film director, teacher, member of the board of the Union of Cinematographers of Ukraine, Galina Sulima, a Ukrainian film actress, head of the Odesa Film Office, and Anna Korzh, a non-fiction film director, co-founder of the organization “SUK” Contemporary Ukrainian Cinema, Serhiy Mirankov – independent film producer and production consultant in Ukraine for foreign film crews, Marysia Nikitiuk – Ukrainian screenwriter and director of short and feature films, Myroslava Derepa – director, winner of the first student film festival “First Step” in 2019. I am very grateful for the support and assistance of all our partners.
The official partners of the film festival were: SiniY Crab Creative Arts Center, Odesa Film Studio, Search Platform 911 NGO, Amillidius International Advertising Company, and, of course, my companies, Diplomat European Legal Group and the Research Institute for Democracy Development. I would also like to thank our media partners: Reporter, Akademia, DumskayaTV, Channel 7, Nova Khvylia, and Inshyy, as well as the Kozyr Digital media holding, Fostylen magazine, and the socio-political weekly Slovo.
You have already organized five successful film festivals. Do you plan to make the First Step an annual event?
The First Step project was created for this purpose. This is a cause that is always important and necessary. Every year, Ukraine graduates hundreds of talented young people, and there are no “empty” years.
That is why the First Step will be held annually.
Natalia, we know that you personally took care of the organizational aspects. Could you tell us what prizes were awarded to the winners?
Yes, we have a prize fund. It is a cup in the shape of a star, a guiding star to success, and a cash prize of 40 thousand hryvnias. Cinema is not a cheap art, and all the submitted works are filmed with the students’ own money, often their last. So this small amount is an impetus, an indicator that we need to move in a given direction.
Do you plan to scale the festival to an international level?
Yes, of course, there is such a goal. We are creating an international youth film hub in Odesa, a screenwriting laboratory where everyone can get such valuable knowledge at the beginning of their career, the opportunity to attend master classes from masters, receive production and financial support, and, of course, meet like-minded people. The language of cinema is the language of the heart, which is understood, perceived and broadcast in all languages.
