Petition against the reorganization of Dovzhenko Cantre registered on the Cabinet of Ministers website

A petition with the demand to cancel the reorganization of the state enterprise "National Oleksandr Dovzhenko Centre" has been registered on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers. The petition has already garnered 1,950 signatures out of the required 25,000. There are 89 days left until the end of the signature collection.

"The reorganization order does not mention the film archive and the museum collection of the Dovzhenko Centre, which are part of the state archival and museum funds of Ukraine, respectively. Neither in the preamble to the order nor in the public communication has Derzhkino justified its decision. The transfer of a national film archive collection with a high reputation in the world to a fake institution is a huge blow to our cultural heritage and to the international image of the Ukrainian government, especially during the war, when Ukraine is spilling blood for the right to its own identity. This strike has all the signs of an encroachment on the national memory and can be considered an act that undermines the statehood and betrays the national interests," the author of the petition, Elizaveta Mamona, claims.

As IMI reported, on August 17, State enterprise "National Oleksandr Dovzhenko Centre" announced that the Ukrainian State Film Agency (Derzhkino) had issued an order on the Centre's reorganization, "which de facto means liquidation of the national film archive, which has consistently been engaged in the preservation, research, and popularization of Ukrainian cinema since 1994."

As the Centre explained, according to Derzhkino's order, all films from the collection and all Dovzhenko Centre's property must be transferred to the State Institution "Academic Cinematography Centre of Ukraine", whose main activity, according to NSRUEO, is "higher education." The State Etnterprise "Ukrainian Animation Studio" should be separated from the structure of Dovzhenko Centre; copyrights for Ukrainian animation, currently owned by the Centre, will be passed on to it. The Centre's employees must be notified of possible dismissal.

"In this way, Derzhkino entrusts the responsibility for Ukraine's unique cinematic heritage to a de facto 'dormant' institution that has not done any work since being founded during Yanukovych's presidency in 2011, does not have a staff, any relevant competencies, a website, etc.," the statement reads.

In turn, Derzhkino assures that the order does not provide for the liquidation of the Dovzhenko Centre, but only for its reorganization with the formation of a separate legal entity – the State Enterprise "Ukrainian Animation Studio."