On May 30, 2025, a regional webinar entitled “Film Club as a Space for Dialogue: Library and Docudays UA in Action” was held, organized by the Donetsk Oblast Library for Children with the support of the Donetsk Oblast State Administration. The event was attended by library specialists, cultural institution employees, and community representatives seeking new formats for interacting with people in wartime conditions.
The event was attended by Svitlana Sadova, head of the T. H. Shevchenko Library Branch in the village of Shabelkivka and moderator of the Femida Film Club, which has been a center for legal education and emotional support for the community for 10 years. She presented the club's activities, talked about adapting to wartime conditions, partnerships with educational institutions, the impact of films on young people, and advocacy initiatives. According to Ms. Svitlana, the film club has become not just a cultural event, but a space for joint decisions, where empathy, critical thinking, and civic activism grow.
Kateryna Singurova, partnership coordinator for the DOCU/CLUB of the Docudays, presented the opportunities offered by the Docudays UA film club network, which covers hundreds of libraries and educational institutions across the country. She discussed in detail the rules for registration, the specifics of moderating film screenings, and the tools available to community members. Webinar participants learned how easy it is to integrate a film club into library activities and gain access to a powerful database of documentary films and methodological materials.
A special part of the meeting was a joint viewing of the film Hotel 22, a short documentary about homeless people in the United States who sleep on a bus that runs around the clock. After the screening, there was a discussion, which was joined by Tetiana Kurmelova, chief lawyer at the Oleksandrivsk Center for Free Secondary Legal Aid. She provided a legal assessment of the problem of homelessness in the Ukrainian context and commented on the social security regulations in force in Ukraine.
The webinar showed that even in wartime, libraries can remain a place for learning, communication, and support. Screening documentary films provides an opportunity to talk about important topics—human rights, dignity, and life that goes on. The event motivated participants to create new film clubs that will bring communities together.