THE HISTORY OF THE GUILD

Ukrainian Guild of Directors was created as a result of Ukrainian Film Directors’ need to unite in order to protect professional interests. The initiators of this Association were Victoria Trofimenko, Maryna Vroda, Yuliia Gontaruk, Valeria Sochyvets, Marina Stepanska, Slavik Bihun, Polina Kelm, Volodymyr Tykhyy, Zhanna Maksymenko-Dovhych, Yanina Kucher, Anna Smoliy and Bohdana Smyrnova.

The idea to unite as a Guild did not come out of nowhere. There are few other Directors’ associations in Ukraine, but this is the first attempt to unite the widest possible circle of Film Directors. Also, unlike other associations, the Ukrainian Guild of Directors (UGD) does not restrict its members from participation in other professional unions and seeks to unite Film Directors based on mutual professional interests, no matter their education and based solely on professional experience.

Apart from DGU, the following unions are available for directors in Ukraine:

– The all-Ukrainian public organization Guild of Film Directors “24/1”, which was founded in 1999 by V. Dovhan, A. Mikulskyi, and B. Savchenko (President), which has 34 members.

– The Guild of Film Directors which has existed as a subdivision of the National Film Union of Ukraine since December 2013. Volodymyr Tykhyy is the Head and its members are A. Parkhomenko, O. Fialko, M. Artemenko, O. Artemenko, L. Artiugina, Y. Kuzmenko, S. Lysenko, A. Chobotaryov, G. Akulevych, Y. Matvienko, V. Fesenko, A. Mykhailyk, V. Myslyvyy., V. Tykhyy, Y. Gontaruk, V. Shkurin, G. Davydenko, T. Matusevych, M. Slaboshpytskiy, T. Tkachenko.

Ukrainian directors’ first attempt to unite as a guild happened back in 1989, when Ukraine was still part of the USSR. The spirit of freedom that Perestroika brought, in addition to a feeling of separation from the Moscow Union of Directors and Moscow Film Union, prompted Ukrainian directors to create a Professional Guild of Film Directors of Ukraine as a branch of the Guild of Film Directors of the USSR. The Board of the Guild consisted of: Volodymyr Dovhan, Viktor Gres, Borys Savchenko, Volodymyr Savelyev, David Cherkasskiy, Mykola Maletsky, Oleg Biyma, Vyacheslav Kolegaev, Mykola Zaseyev, Yevhen Sherstobitov, Eduard Dargolts, and Leonard Bukin. Volodymyr Dovgal was then elected for a President of the Guild.