USUST joins screenings of the ‘Invincible Ukraine 2026’ Festival
On April 1 and 3, 2026, the Ukrainian State University of Science and Technologies hosted screenings of documentary films as part of the All-Ukrainian Festival of Screen Arts ‘Invincible Ukraine 2026’. The event united students and academic staff from several educational and scientific institutes, including USUCT, PSAPCS, DMI and DIIT. The screenings were organized in the framework of the series of historical and patriotic lectures ‘Resilience of the Ukrainian Nation: history and the present’, which has already become an important platform for discussions on contemporary realities, the experience of war, and cultural memory.
During the opening of the event, Halyna Yevsieieva, Vice-Rector for Student Development and Humanitarian Policy, emphasized that such initiatives today serve a much broader purpose than just introducing audiences to works of art. They create a space for reflecting on the events around us and help shape a holistic understanding of the current history. The festival itself, its geography, and concept were presented by Valentyna Sloboda, secretary of the National Union of Cinematographers of Ukraine, festival organizer, and artistic director of the Dnipro House of Arts. She noted that since its foundation, ‘Invincible
As part of the screenings, students were introduced to several documentary works that sparked lively interest and further discussion. One of the central films was ‘Only a bullet…’ from the ‘Faces of the unbroken’ nomination, dedicated to Yakov Tkachenko, a theatre and film actor from Dnipro who voluntarily joined the defence of Ukraine and was killed on December 10, 2024. Another work, presented in the ‘Art in the trenches’ nomination, was a video essay edited by Petro Surhaiev, a military cinematographer from Zaporizhzhia. Combining frontline footage from the Donetsk region with poetry by Pavlo Vyshybaba, the piece created a profound emotional message on the experience of war.
The discussion of the films was joined by Svitlana Volkova, head of the academic group ‘Club of Ukrainian Cinema Enthusiasts’ and senior lecturer of the Department of Ukrainian Studies, Documentation and Information Activities at the SEI ‘PSACEA’. She stressed that documentary cinema today has an important historical mission: it records the evidence and preserves individual stories that must not disappear in generalized narratives. In her view, it is precisely through such works that a new culture of memory is being shaped, in which every human life and every personal story matters. The screenings were more than a presentation of films, they became a space for shared reflection and emotional engagement. Participants discussed what they had seen, shared their impressions, and asked questions to the authors and organizers. The meetings concluded with a minute of silence as a tribute to all those who are currently defending Ukraine.
These screenings became another example of how the university community can unite around important issues combining education, culture, and civic responsibility.