The awards ceremony at the “Zolote kurcha” XII International Festival of Films and Television and Radio Shows for Children and Youth just ended in the Crimean city of Feodosia. This year the festival featured 50 television programs, 12 radio shows, 6 animated films, and 4 films.
Over 20 television and radio companies from Ukraine, as well as several Russian and Moldovan companies, participated in the contest. The finest productions were selected by two juries: a professional one and a children’s jury.
This unique Ukrainian competition was organized by the State Committee of Television and Radio Broadcasting of Ukraine, the Slavutych Ukrainian branch of the International Rolan Bykov Cinema and Television Fund for Children and Youth, the Kultura State Television Company, and the Foxtrot group of companies (part of their social project “The People’s Movie Theater”).
The professional jury headed by Mykola Slobodian, who heads the Institute for Screen Arts at the National Theater, Cinema, and Television University of Ukraine, announced the winners of the first round of the professional selection. The award for Best Film went to a private Yevpatoria-based production studio for its movie The First Step. The Best Animated Film award was captured by the Dnipropetrovsk-based Vesnianka Studio for its cartoon A Girl Who Is No More, and the Best Television Show for Youth award went to the National Television Company of Ukraine for a show called Indigo. Liudmyla Tomashpolska of the World Service of Ukrainian Television and Radio Broadcasting and Antonina Tuhas of the Zhytomyr Oblast State Television and Radio Company received the Best Author and Director award.
It is a festival tradition to have the children’s jury select winners once the adult jury has completed its judging. This year the children’s jury was comprised of over 300 children, who were spending their vacation in the Khvylia Sanatorium in Feodosia. After watching all the productions submitted to the competition, they delivered their verdict, which was announced on Aug. 21 at the festival’s closing ceremony.
The professional jury awarded bronze statuettes to television companies from Lviv, Vinnytsia, Poltava, and Kyiv. In the second round of the professional competition a series of videos for children produced by the Rivne Oblast Television and Radio Company won in the Best Film category. The TV program The Little Lion’s Den, produced by the Lviv Oblast Television and Radio Company, won the award for Best TV Program for Young Children, and the Kultura State Television and Radio Company captured the award for Best TV Program for Preteens for its program Geniuses Are Made, Not Born.
The children’s jury supported the professional jury’s choice of the Best TV Program for Youth and the Best Animated Film for Children. The top journalists were awarded diplomas, certificates, and prizes from the organizing committee.
Special thanks go to the staff of the Feodosiia City Council and especially to the city’s acting mayor, Tetiana Hryshyna, for their extensive support of the festival.
Experts say that children’s television programming has considerable educational potential. So far, state oblast television and radio companies have carried the ball in this area, but successful Ukrainian businessmen should start contributing their efforts. It is crucial to continue the festival tradition and strengthen camaraderie among all those who keep this tradition alive every year.
