“EVERYTHING NEEDS TO LIVE” AWARDED AT DOCUDAYS UA

The short film The Kiosk by Daniel Stopa wasn't the only one to leave the Ukrainian festival with honours. The documentary by Tetiana Dorodnitsyna and Andrii Lytvynenko also won two awards. At Docudays UA, the film received the Grand Prix in the Rights Now! Competition and the Audience Award.

The Docudays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival is the only film festival in Ukraine with a focus on human rights. The festival was held annually in Kiev in March, and admission was free for the public. Two years ago, the event took place in a modified form at the Kijów cinema in Krakow during the 62nd Krakow Film Festival. After a year-long break, it returned to the Ukrainian capital.

Winning two awards, Everything Needs To Live shows the extraordinary daily life of Anna Kurkurina, a charismatic athlete, “the strongest woman in the world”, an animal rights activist, and a lesbian.From a young age, Anna has demonstrated a unique bond with animals. She taught biology at a school, worked at a local zoo where she befriended a lion, helped establish animal shelters, and found new homes for dozens of stray animals. After turning forty, she decided to start a career in powerlifting and soon climbed to the top, winning the world championship three times. She also began working as a trainer for young people with disabilities. Since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, leveraging her popularity in the sports world and as an influencer, Anna has continued to help injured and abandoned animals, following her motto: “He who saves one life saves the whole world”.

All awarded films have been listed here.