“Mariupol. Unlost Hope” got the special mention “Be Free” at the BIDF

Documentary film “Mariupol. Unlost Hope”, filmed by the Organization of Ukrainian Producers, received the special mention “Be Free” at the Budapest Documentary Film Festival (BIDF). This is the only international documentary festival in the capital of Hungary. An international jury gives 5-6 awards with prize money along with other rewards and special mentions.

Max Lytvynov, director of the film: “For me, this award was unexpected, as well as the invitation to the festival, because Mariupol. Unlost Hope is not a festival film. Its mission was to bring the truth about the war to viewers in the West. The special mention of the festival jury is the appraisal of the film contribution to the truth about the war.”

The Budapest International Documentary Film Festival holds a Q&A session after every screening to provide a real one-off experience.

“I felt that the festival participants had a request for the truth,” says Max Lytvynov. — “Many people visited the screenings, and they asked many questions, not only about the film, but about the war, the situation in Ukraine, and how to counter propaganda. It was obvious that it is important for them to get information directly, because Hungarians are being lied to by their state media.”

The founding director of BIDF Ágnes Sós writes on the BIDF website that preparing this festival, he has experienced censorship working even in cultural institutions of certain European countries. “There are places where state funds will not support any film that does not portray a positive image of the country and exposes the disingenuous practice of those in power”. He considers BIDF as the place where you can see films whose creators gambled with their lives by making them, in other ones it’s the characters whose lives are a testimony to a great courage.