05-12-2017

Ukraine - Poland. New Gaze. A seminar in Kiev, 9 December 2017

     

    The Adam Mickiewicz Institute, the Eureka Media company based in Warsaw, the Centre for Open and Multimedia Learning of the University of Warsaw and The Centre for Modern Information Techniques and Visual Arts from Kiev invite to participate in the debate about possible forms of communication, dialogue and understanding between Ukrainians and Poles. We are particularly interested in the opportunities offered by new interactive technologies. But everyone is invited, whether you use such technologies or not.

    The seminar will take place on 8 December, 6:00-7:30 PM at the centre of Kiev (we will give the address to the selected participants). On 9 December 2017 we will conduct interviews with selected participants who register until 7 December 2017 6:00 PM, Kiev time. Please contact us: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (Ukrainian, Russian, English).

    Our most important questions:

    What knowledge do Ukrainians and Poles need about both countries and their cultures?

    What is the best way to discuss mutual relations and to look for common goals?

    What technologies, communication strategies and marketing tools can be utilised to reach the widest possible audience - participants of the interactive project Ukraine - Poland.  New Gaze?

    ***

    The Seminar Ukraine – Poland. New Gaze will be the first stage of a project focused around an interactive documentary platform meant to present - in multi-layered and broad thematic terms acknowledging different points of view - the history of Polish-Ukrainian relations and the problems of contemporary relations between both societies. Interactive documentary films will constitute a significant part of the platform. The films will use newly recorded materials and archival footage as well as integral original works. They will be made by students and young graduates of film schools and media faculties from both countries, selected in a contest.

    Interactive documentary film is a fairly new phenomenon. Its appeal comes from a combination of the possibilities of three genres (means of communication): traditional documentary film, websites and computer games. While traditional documentary has a closed structure protected by copyright law, interactive documentaries give the viewer - the participant of a communication process - the opportunity to choose their own path leading to the goal understood as, e.g. acquiring knowledge about the topic of the film. While a website is full of dispersed content, an interactive documentary does have a narrative structure. After all, it is telling a story, even if there are several (or more) ways of getting to its essence. And while a computer game requires constant, and often intuitive activity of the participant of the communication process, usually ended with losing or winning, an interactive documentary presents more unchangeable materials and thus it offers the opportunity for deeper thought and for an artistic level of communication.

    Using the interactive documentary genre in the project Ukraine - Poland. New Gaze will make it possible to present - in an attractive, interactive and cinematic form - the many different historic and social narratives present in the public space of both countries and in commentaries on their relations that have been and still are published beyond their borders. Participants of the communication process will get the opportunity to verify the truthfulness of those messages, to get to know common narratives that seem dissonant at first glance, and to reach their own conclusions. The debate will be moderated which shall ensure its high quality and help avoid one-sided voices and propaganda. Trusting young professionals - students and young graduates of film and media studies from both countries - with production will ensure a fresh look, an unflinching attitude and honesty in using source materials. We will welcome new technologies thanks to the broad and, by definition, open form of the interactive documentary.

    This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.