One year since Russia invaded Ukraine 
and blew up stability in the region, EUNIC Romania Network and the International Documentary & Human Rights Film Festival One World Romania await their audiences at Cinema Elvire Popescu in Bucharest for a film screening, followed by a debate about the role of art in processing trauma, respectively in understanding and fixing reality.
“The Hamlet Syndrome” (Poland, Germany 2022; directed by: Elwira Niewiera and Piotr Rosolowski) is a documentary that depicts the traumas of the young Ukrainian generation scarred by war and political breakthroughs. The film’s starting point is the preparation for a play based on the motifs of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, which, combined with an intense glimpse into the lives of the characters, creates a powerful portrait of a generation having to confront their war trauma and tackle the painful past, which now after the Russia’s invasion of Ukraine becomes their present and future alike.
After the screening a debate about the effects of the year-long conflict on the individual and collective psyche (both for Ukrainian citizens and the Romanian population) and at which extent art can be used as a therapeutic tool, whether you practice it professionally or not. At this debate will be present: Olena Illienko – an Ukrainian cinema, theater actress and fitness trainer currently living in Romania, Ksenia Kozlovskaya – an Ukrainian dance instructor and choreographer established in Bucharest after the Russian Invasion and Valentin Arsene – a Romanian independent psychotherapist, specialist in integrative trauma therapy.
About the participants
Olena Illienko is a cinema, theater actress and fitness trainer from Kyiv. She graduated from the Faculty of Cinematography in 1986 and since then has played almost 40 roles in films and series. She is part of the JART theater team, which successfully participates in pantomime and physical theater festivals. In addition, Olena has 30 years of experience in the coaching profession of various classes, including Stretching, Eco Fitness, Mind Body, with a fitness coaching diploma from the French Federation of Physical Education and Gymnastics and the University of Sports Education of Kiev. In Bucharest, she coordinates a mindfulness program for refugees from Ukraine.
Ksenia Kozlovskaya – is a dance instructor and choreographer. She comes from Kiev and has been doing Latin dances for more than 12 years, but she has been an instructor for only 7 years. After the first large-scale show in 2017, participation in the most important dance events in Germany, Poland, Turkey and Ukraine followed. Ksenia has a dance school in Kiev. In Romania, she works as a youth worker at the Romanian Angel Appeal and leads her Xena’s Reinas team remotely, because the work continued with the girls who chose to stay in Ukraine. In January, the band presented a new show, Malaguena, performed under extremely harsh conditions amid the roar of war alarms and bombings. Skype was helpful, but up to a point.
Valentin Arsene – is an independent specialist psychotherapist, supervisor in integrative trauma psychotherapy and member of the Institute for the Study and Treatment of Trauma (ISTT) since its foundation in 2010.
About the organisers
One World Romania is the 1st documentary festival in Bucharest and the only one dedicated to human rights in Romania. It grew as an offspring of the One World in Prague, initiated by the Czech Centre Bucharest, but in time, the selection and organization became autonomous. In 2009 the organizers of the festival started the One World Romania Association, developing more projects, especially for teenagers.
EUNIC Romania Network is the Romanian chapter of the European network of organisations engaging in cultural relations. Together with its partners, the EUNIC Network brings to life European cultural collaborations in more than 100 countries worldwide with a network of 136 clusters, drawing on the broad experience of its members from all EU Member States and associate countries. EUNIC advocates a prominent role of culture in international relations and is a strategic partner of the EU, actively involved in the further definition of European cultural policy. EUNIC is a platform for knowledge sharing and for capacity building amongst its members and partners.
The Facebook Event Page of the Screening
