Considering that high culture, unlike lowbrow culture, is a marginal phenomenon in Ukrainian television, the “Weekend with ARTE” project, announced by the First National Channel, is a significant event. From March 11 to 13, with the support of the French Cultural Center and the Goethe Institut in Ukraine, the First Channel will show a number of chosen documentary and feature films, produced by the popular French-German “art-cultural” project ARTE. This information was reported by the press service of the First National Channel.
The ARTE channel has been aired since 1992 in German and French almost all over Europe. The channel specializes in culture and art, European topics, high-quality documentaries and informational programs.
Earlier one could see European documentaries on the National Television Company of Ukraine, but the joint special project of NTCU and ARTE will be shown for the first time.
In March, Gottfried Langenstein (the vice president of ARTE in Germany) and Jerome Clement (the head of ARTE in France) will visit Ukraine to open the “Weekend with ARTE.” They will take part in the special talk show on the First National Channel conducted by Savik Shuster. Besides, within the framework of the “Weekend with ARTE” project, the First Channel announced a short film competition. Directors can send their works on the following themes: “Ecology and environmental problems,” “Youth in Europe” and “Racial intolerance.” Films can be shot using any technique, with a length of up to ten minutes. The works will be accepted from February 1 to 18 (accompanied by a brief biography/filmography of the director, a script and a film annotation). The ARTE presidents will choose the winner, who will have the opportunity to visit the channel’s head office (in France or in Germany). Competition works can be sent to: 04119 Kyiv, Melnikova str. 42, National Television Company of Ukraine, The Office of Foreign Cooperation of NTCU; with the heading: Film Contest “Weekend with ARTE.”
An essential detail: ARTE is a social broadcaster, i.e. it is maintained at the EU citizens’ expense. The First National Channel is not yet a social channel, but it is similarly broadcast at the expense of taxpayers, who, apart from discovering Old Europe’s culture, deserve at least to learn about their own culture. There are Ukrainian composers, artists, writers, and philosophers about whom we know very little, but who are sure to interest a European audience. This is the very field for NTCU (on condition of the channel’s wise policy) to regain its historic role.
