Igor Markov, who is the board director for the Bay Area-based nonprofit Nova Ukraine, explained that life is very difficult for people living in Ukraine at the moment. “People have to protect themselves; there are air raid sirens pretty much every day,” he added, noting that most Ukrainian Americans he knows are connected to someone who has been killed during the war. Nova Ukraine continues to provide aid, materials, and on-the-ground volunteers to help people in Ukraine. Markov said his organization is already preparing to get supplies sent into Ukraine to help people through the winter.
From Eco Picnic to Eco Film Festival
With Nova Ukraine’s support for the second year in a row, Ukrainian nonprofit Chysto.De?!—whose name translates as “Clean.Where?!”—is expanding environmental education and creating new opportunities for Ukrainian eco-cinema. At this year’s ECO FILM FESTIVAL, organized by Chysto.De?! on August 15–16 at MC6 Creative Residence in Slavske, visitors watched Ukrainian and international environmental documentaries, attended lectures and public discussions, joined hands-on workshops, and explored a market of sustainable local crafts. Children and teenagers spent the weekend learning the basics of documentary storytelling, filming nature around them, experimenting with stop-motion animation, and presenting their own short films at the closing ceremony. For Nova Ukraine project manager Yevheniya Chuchko, it was the part of the festival that stayed with her most.