From 6 to 10 August, Uzhhorod will host the 4th annual international film festival ‘Cinema of Neighbours’, which will feature films from Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Austria, Poland and Romania.
The festival will also feature a series of educational events combining cinema, intercultural dialogue, and innovative approaches to learning. Admission to all festival events is free, subject to prior registration on the website kinosusidiv.com.
On 8 August at 2 p.m., the Lis art space (37 Fedynets Street) will host a workshop entitled ‘Interactive Education: How to Teach Children Through Film,’ led by Anna Puklova, coordinator and lecturer of audiovisual programmes at the krutón cultural association (Prague).
During the event, participants will learn about methods for implementing audiovisual education in the learning process, watch short films, and discuss how to develop critical thinking and dialogue with children through cinema.
The event will be especially useful for teachers working with preschool, primary and secondary school children. Registration for the event: kinosusidiv.com/2025/audiovisualedu
On 9 August at 13:30, the Culture Space (11/1 Sándor Petőfi Square) will host a workshop entitled ‘Create Your Own (Pre)Film,’ led by Emese Erdész, programme director at Klassz and employee of the National Film Institute and Film Archive of Hungary.
At this event, participants will be able to explore 19th-century optical devices, which started it all, long before modern cinema. They will also be able to create their own animated film and watch it on a genuine antique projector that is almost a century old. The workshop is for children, teenagers, adults — anyone who is still amazed by the world. Registration for the event: kinosusidiv.com/2025/klaszz
On 10 August at 14:00, a public discussion entitled ‘Who are you, neighbour?’ will take place at the Uzhhorod Open-Air Museum, organised jointly with the Re:Open Ukraine initiative in partnership with the Institute for Central European Strategy.
This is a conversation about invisible borders — those that do not appear on maps, but in perceptions, stereotypes, and cultural prejudices. Topics include the image of Central European countries in the public consciousness, the role of culture and cinema in shaping good neighbourliness, mutual understanding, and sustainable development in the region. The discussion will also address how culture and politics deal with issues of national communities, as well as why knowledge about neighbours is becoming critically important in the context of full-scale war and Ukraine’s move towards EU membership.
Participants in the discussion include Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, Member of Parliament, Chair of the Committee on Freedom of Speech; András Rácz, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Governance in Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia DGAP; Linda Kapustová Helbichová, Executive Director of the International Visegrad Fund. Registration for the event: https://forms.gle/HAatTnBtZcygM3xq8
The organisers also invite everyone to join filmmakers visiting the Neighbours’ Cinema Festival in Uzhhorod for coffee to present their work. An informal meeting with directors, programmers, film characters, and representatives of the film industry will take place on 8 August at 11:00 a.m. at the Culture Space (11/1 Shandor Petofi Square).
The full festival programme and screening schedule are available at kinosusidiv.com/ua/program25.
The Neighbours’ Cinema Festival, founded in 2022, is organised by the KyivMusicFilm team and the Kyiv International Short Film Festival (KISFF) with the support of the Embassy of the Republic of Austria in Ukraine and the Romanian Cultural Institute.
The project is co-financed by the governments of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia as part of the Visegrad Grant from the International Visegrad Fund, whose mission is to promote the ideas of sustainable regional cooperation in Central Europe.
The public discussion ‘Who are you, neighbour?’ at the Neighbours’ Cinema Festival will be held as part of the project ‘Building Good Neighbourliness in Central Europe for Ukraine’s Successful Accession to the EU’ by the Institute for Central European Strategy. This project is being implemented by the Institute for Central European Strategy with the support of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation as part of the joint initiative ‘Joining the EU Together.’
Source: Ukrainian Week
