ŻUBROFFKA Special: BABYLON’13 – films about Ukrainian revolution

In the autumn of 2013 the European choice of Ukrainians was stifled by the government of Viktor Yanukovych. Ukrainian society had no other choice than to unite and defend their freedom and aspirations. The filmmakers became an integral part of this fight. When Euromaidan was filled with barricades and tents, a group of filmmakers founded Babylon’13, an artistic formation which aimed to help in understanding the dramatic events, but also to develop civil society. Films made during the worst clashes, telling of extraordinary actions taken by ordinary people, helped Ukrainians in changing their attitudes and ways of thinking about their reality.

The creative team of over 40 people united around one mission, was composed both of students-enthusiasts and rewarded masters of cinema. Babylon’13 teamed up with HromadskeTV, Euromaidan SOS, Centre UA, AutoMaidan and others. The collaboration resulted in a series of documentaries called “Winter”, coproduced with 1 + 1 TV channel. The stories of presented people showed the change that had taken place in the Ukrainian nation. Several films were produced, documenting over one thousand hours of events. The films have gained immense popularity, as evidenced by 4 million YouTube views and over 25,000 subscribers. Media such as CNN, AlJazzera, ITN used them to report on events in Ukraine, so the whole world could see them. In addition, the filmmakers gathered around Babylon’13 visited nearly 200 places where they showed their films, met with people and discussed the situation in Ukraine. Another occasion for this is ŻUBROFFKA Festival.