Star Independent International Internet Film Festival

Today, the Internet is not only the most powerful communication tool, but also the primary means of obtaining information—including in the fields of culture and education.

This creates real opportunities for promoting independent film projects aimed at a discerning audience.

To help them find each other—filmmakers and audiences—producer Olena Yaremchuk organized the Star Independent International Online Film Festival in 2014.

This fall, it is being held for the seventh time, co-organized by Yulia Gonchar and UG Production.

The festival immediately became a platform not only for the creators of the competition entries to express their creative ideas, but also for filmmakers, film enthusiasts, and film connoisseurs from various countries to interact.

The founder of Star Independent and her team successfully facilitate communication between talent and fans interested in promoting high-quality films across various formats.

To consolidate the efforts of professionals in this field, the Star Independent International Online Film Festival hosts online meetings that help expand professional networks within the entertainment industry.

The festival’s cultural program also includes events that introduce film enthusiasts to trends and developments in other art forms. The 7th Online Film Festival invites its guests to the exhibition “Planet Earth United,” which will feature works by artists from Ukraine and the United States, namely Olena Omelya, Marina Maltseva, Olena Yaremchuk, Charlotte Lenson, and Karma Botiya. The exhibitors will donate some of their paintings to a charity auction to benefit Tibetan children supported by the “Good Karma” public association and children at the Akhmadit Clinic, supported by the Rotary public association.

Star Independent participants are invited to the presentation of Olena Yaremchuk’s poetry collection *My Emotions*, as well as to creative gatherings, fashion shows, and creative parties in Ukraine and the United States featuring representatives from the film industry, the art scene, and community leaders.

But, of course, the organizers of Star Independent are focusing primarily on film. The competition program features entries from creative teams in over twenty countries, including Ukraine, the United States, France, Georgia, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Belarus, and many others. They will be evaluated in various categories by an international jury headed by Hollywood producer Frank Mayor, along with jury members from Ukraine, the United States, Belarus, and the Netherlands: Jury Konstantin Fam, Oleksiy Klymenko, Yuriy Igrusha, Jimmy McNicol, Stephen Sester Prince, Natalia Soboleva, and Victoria Gryshko…. And viewers anywhere in the world will be able to watch the films online using an e-ticket that grants access to the platform featuring the festival films.

The official opening of the 7th Star Independent International Internet Festival, whose theme is “The Ecology of Thought,” will take place on November 5, 2021, in Kyiv at the Sofiivskyi Posad Hotel. The highlight of the ceremony will be a screening of the film *Anton* by Georgian director Zaza Uruadze.

The festival will conclude with a gala party at the Durango resort (Colorado) on November 13, 2021, and a screening of the Israeli-French-Polish-Czech-Russian film “Witnesses” by director Konstantin Fam, a native of the Kharkiv region, which demonstrates the highest level of cooperation in the film industry.

Another highlight of the Star Independent competition program will be a screening in Denver, attended by members of the Ukrainian diaspora in America, of the documentary film *Companions*, whose main characters, Ukrainian amateur artists Hanna Tsaryuk-Gritik (82) and Volodymyr Sokolov (86), inspire with their example of creative fulfillment and their vibrant energy.

And this is an added bonus to the vibrant palette of emotions that viewers and participants of the 7th Star Independent International Online Film Festival will experience as they watch the best works by independent filmmakers from around the world.

Small and medium-sized businesses from Ukraine and the United States are making a significant contribution. The film festival has become a platform for business collaboration. The general sponsor, the Yaremchuk & Partners Legal Consulting Group, represented by General Director Yuriy Mykolayovych Yaremchuk, has been providing support and assistance in copyright protection and trademark registration for creators for over 20 years, awards the winners, and has been a partner for 7 years.

Shabshai Technology, represented by Galina Shabshai, supports the film festival, as the company’s primary goal is to ensure that the number of happy and successful people in the world grows every day. Olga Smachylo, founder of Mavka Fashion, whose company collaborates with the Asian Film Academy at the International Women’s Film Forum, showcases the authentic image of Ukrainian women to the world through Ukrainian attire.

The project organizers are proving once again that film is the very medium capable of bringing people from all over the world together, and that the internet is the best conduit and intermediary in this process.

Project partners