From August 1 to 3, 2025, the village of Kolochava in Transcarpathian region will host the International Ecology and Film Festival “ECO FILM FESTIVALby CHYSTO.DE” and the Roman Zhuk Film Award.
The organizers announced this on the festival's official website.
The event will take place on the territory of the Museum of Architecture and Life “Old Village.” It is here that modern eco-art will be able to harmoniously combine with the traditions of the past.
The public organization “Chysto.De,” which cleans up the Carpathians and is involved in environmental education, is holding this festival for the second time. Last year, Kolochava hosted the eco-event from August 9 to 11.
However, this is the first time that a special film award is being launched — in memory of the founder of the initiative, Roman Zhuk, to inspire creative people to make eco-films and motivate our country to change. In the spring of 2022, the Defender died on the front lines. Now his wife Olena and their two sons, Seraphim and Ustym, are continuing his work.
“Our mission is to unite around the idea of a Clean Country, where love for nature sprouts through the screen, frame by frame, story by story,” the film festival's website says.
The goal of the project is to shape an environmentally conscious Ukrainian society, motivate people to create high-quality films and powerful videos on environmental and nature conservation topics, unite society to protect the environment, and preserve the memory of fallen defenders by realizing their powerful dreams.
The ECO FILM FESTIVAL by CHYSTO.DE has four areas of focus:
- ecology;
- film education;
- film screenings;
- tourism.
Under the mentorship of professional directors, young people will shoot videos about the environment and a stop-motion cartoon about how garbage kills animals. For everyone who joins the festival, the team has prepared open-air film screenings, lectures, and master classes.
At the end of 2024, the head of the NGO “Chysto.De” Olena Zhuk was included in the top 10 real Ukrainian eco-activists according to EcoPolitics.
