HELPING ARTIST WHO LOST THEIR JOBS

My name is Anya and I fled to the US 8 months ago due to the war ongoing in Ukraine. Throughout this short period of time, I have learned that people and communities in the US are always willing to help as much as they can when someone needs it, so I am already thankful for reading these words right now.

The reason I started this fundraiser is because I believe that art is a vehicle of change in the world. Whether it’s movies or paintings, art has always had an impact on the world. I want to support my friends who have an incredible skill set to make art but lost the funding to continue making their film Naida.

The film follows the journey of Naida and her brother Vasya as they navigate the world and learn how to support each other at a young age to find the answer to the question - is naida adopted?

Why do we need your help

The average payment in Ukraine is $2 dollars per hour.

All artists that have stayed in Ukraine are left without work.

There were two main organizations in Ukraine that helped artists fund their projects - the Ukrainian Cultural Fundraiser and Dovzenko Center. After the war started on August 16, the Government reorganized both. There was a decision made to liquidate the national film archive and cut all grants for films that were funded by them. The same thing happened to UKF. All of the projects have been postponed to a future date that is unknown.

I see art as necessary and for someone to lose their livelihood because of circumstances out of their control is unfair. I think that I am in a position to help support my friends in making impactful art that helps maintain and bring together the art community in Ukraine.

Goals

The main goal is to give work to artists who stayed in Ukraine. I want to connect talented artists who see their goals and have a plan to bring life to their ideas and through all of this I hope to encourage artists to provide work for each other and support each other.

The estimated budget for 1,5 month of work is $2000. This amount will be enough to cover all expenses which include a salary for a crew and cast, equipment and location rentals and work in post production.

Final note

Naida poses the question- what makes us human?

For me, I think art makes us human. It’s a universal language everybody can speak in and understand. It gives us a community of people to lean on as well as the ability to learn and understand different cultures in ways that are unexplainable.

I truly believe that art changes this world for the better. I would love to be able to support my artists friends in their pursuit to try and make the world a better place during such a difficult period of time.