A new documentary by filmmaker Hovannes Khachatryan. Technical help is also needed.
Filmmaker Hovannes Khachatryan tells about his new project: a collection of videos recorded on a smartphone about Ukrainian people who have been forced to leave their home. Only one condition is required: HOME. MY HOME (Дім.мій дім) will be a documentary made by self-recorded personal stories. These videos must be filmed directly by the refugees who will tell about their own experience.
Kachatryan fled from Kyiv to Lithuania. He has already received some footage: “What I have concluded from watching the first videos and talking to the compatriots is that each one of them wants to go back to Ukraine and rebuild their homes and their lives – he tells to Romanas Matulis from Filmmakers for Ukraine – They want to live only in their own country. Of course, not all of them will succeed. Some will not return. But I see light and hope in that. I adore Kyiv very much, even though I was not born there. I cannot imagine living apart from it. All my friends are there, my favourite places to visit… that’s my true love! It is important to remind ourselves that all wars come to an end. We have only left temporarily. We will definitely come back“.
HOW TO HELP – SPREAD THE WORD / GO SOCIAL
The first step is to spread the word about the project. The main topics for reflection are about war and peace, about one’s home before the war and the situation now. About where one is now and what to plan after the war is over. It is very important to get a short introduction by the speaker at the beginning of the video.
HOME. MY HOME – VISIT THE OFFICIAL FACEBOOK PAGE AND SHARE IT
The official Facebook post reads:
“The documentary project ‘Home. My Home’ about our people who were left displaced by the war. About those who are temporarily forced to leave the country or move to another city.
- Each of you who left your home can take part in the project.
- Technical and creative requirements: film on your smartphone (statically in a horizontal position) your thoughts and emotions.
TOPICS TO REFLECT ABOUT: - Peace times and war times
- Your house before the war and now.
- The place where you are now.
- What do you plan to do after the war?
- It is very important to introduce yourself at the beginning of the video recording – a few introductory words about yourself.
Files with materials should be downloaded and sent to the e-mail: DimMiyDim2022@gmail.com “.
“So far we have posted on Instagram and Facebook – Khachatryan tells FFU – We have also reached out to our friends, Ukrainian actors, bloggers and other well-known people to contribute and spread the word about the project. We already have a lot of positive feedback and support. In time we will need partners and co-producers to join us”.
HOW TO HELP – TECHNICAL EQUIPMENT ALSO NEEDED
A good computer with a lot of memory and a solid graphics processor to work with Adobe Premiere is needed. As well as memory cards for material storage.
Please reach out to Filmmakers for Ukraine if you want to support the project.
HOME. MY HOME – A collection of personal Ukrainian stories, filmed on a smartphone
Kachatryan talks about the origins of his documentary: “When the war broke out, my first thought was that my profession was over, because nobody would care about cinema. After a while, that sense of meaninglessness faded away and I thought I had to do something. After all, we are only effective and useful when we do something, especially if we do what we know best. So I thought it would be good to make a film where people share emotions about their home, current or former, what they lost in Ukraine, what they found abroad”.
Why this particular format with people filming themselves? “Of course, it was obvious that it is not physically possible to produce and collect such material professionally at the moment. Therefore, the idea was to give people the opportunity to do it themselves, with a basic guide on how they should record videos of their thoughts with their own mobile devices and send the material to us. After discussing the idea with my partner in Kyiv, Liudmila Andriaš, we prepared a post and started communicating the project”.
The filmmaker expands on the format of his new project: “It might even be a series, because there could be a lot of material. Maybe, after a while we will be able to go and capture people’s stories ourselves, so there will be a full production process. I think in about six months, we will be able to release some initial material”.
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