Original Material
Ukraine is poised to release its documentary-film response to Russia's documentary film about the Crimea
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk announced earlier today that Ukraine's new documentary film, titled The Truth About Crimea, might premiere (presumably on television) as soon as next week.
In late June, Yatsenyuk said Kiev would answer Crimea: Path to the Motherland, a Russian documentary film released earlier this year about Moscow’s annexation of Crimea. Kiev promised to make its own movie, this time “about the truth,” saying it planned to attract an Oscar-winning director to head the project. It's still unknown whom Kiev hired to make the movie.
At a government cabinet meeting on August 28, Yatsenyuk advocated expanding state funding for the Ukrainian film industry, stressing the need for more "real Ukrainian cinema."
- The Russian film Crimea: Path to the Motherland first aired on national television on March 15, 2015, on the first anniversary of Crimea’s return to Russia. The film shows several scenes from major events in Crimea during late winter and early spring of 2014, and features a lengthy interview with President Vladimir Putin, who explains in great detail how and why he decided to end Ukraine’s sovereignty over Crimea.
- On June 25, Crimea: Path to the Motherland was awarded a special prize for “the interpretation of modern history” at the 2015 TEFI, an annual ceremony by Russia’s television industry, presented by the Academy of Television.