“Stars on the Earth” is a large-scale cross-sectoral socio-cultural project carried out by the Ukrainian film company “DobranichFilm” in partnership with the “Dzherelo” Training and Rehabilitation Centre with the financial support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation.

What did we do?
We developed a special program and conducted a 15-day inclusive film and art workshop for both children with special educational needs and neurotypical ones. And we made a documentary about it.

Why this title?
“Stars on the Earth” is a metaphorical name that draws attention to the fact that all of us see the stars in the sky. But there are stars on the Earth too. These are the heroes of our project. They shine not less brightly and confidently. All you need is to look in their direction.

Who are our heroes?

What did our heroes learn?

Created an animated cartoon
Enriched their emotional, intellectual, ethical experience
Boosted interest in art, discovered their new talents
Developed creativity, imagination, memory, attention, fine motor skills
Learned to adapt inside the team, communicate more confidently, share their thoughts, skills, and knowledge

What were the directions of the workshop?

Arts and crafts

The children modelled the cartoon characters from polymer clay and modelling clay, drew decorations for the cartoon

Acting

All together, they conducted a series of body-oriented exercises, worked with the breathing apparatus and articulation. The children got acquainted with the history of the theatre and even tried to stage a mini-play. They also recorded lines for the cartoon.

Music

The kids got acquainted with musical instruments of different nations, learned to play them together, recorded various fairy-tale sounds for the cartoon.

Animation

The children learned about the stop motion technique and pixelation. Together they created a cartoon lasting 3 minutes.

Screenwriting

The kids invented a script for a cartoon and fairy-tale characters. They also got engaged in fairy-tale therapy.

Who worked on the workshop program?

Acting. Uliana Danyliuk is the artistic director of the children’s inclusive theatre PerfecoinKilaba. Head of the NGO “Theatre Union for Children with Disabilities”. She developed her own method “Pro-inclusive method of working with an alternative actor”.

Screenwriting, painting. Khrystyna Venhryniuk is a writer, editor-in-chief of the children’s art publishing house “Black Sheep”, the founder of the art studio “MontmArtre”, where children with special needs study.

Music. Serhii Sydorenko is a musician, a regular member of such bands as Okean Elzy, Tina Karol, Dmytro Monatik, AlyonaAlyona. He develops new musical instruments with the Yamaha company experts and instruments for people with disabilities.

Animation. Rodion Shub is an animator, owner of the Ridni studio. During the four years of his project’s existence, he has always focused on artistic and social initiatives. He has conducted hundreds of workshops in different cities of Ukraine.

Kateryna Leshchenko is a body-oriented psychotherapist. She is an organizer of a creative workshop for children with disabilities and children deprived of parental care. Kateryna is a founder of a mini-kindergarten for children with developmental disabilities. The kindergarten operates according to the Montessori method.

Anastasiia Simaka is the methodological leader of the “Stars on Earth” project. She is the director of the unusual theatre “Golden Youth” at the “Dzherelo” Training and Rehabilitation Centre, a participant in numerous international and Ukrainian workshops, training in acting, directing, and directing in special and inclusive theatres.

Arts and crafts. Olesia Voznytska is a co-founder of the NaturaCeramica art ceramic studio workshop. The works of Voznytsky couple take part in many domestic exhibitions and are present in numerous private collections in Ukraine, the UK, Belgium, and the United States of America. Olesia taught the basics of pottery to children in the first children’s craft workshop in Pryborzhavske village in the Irshava region.

Svitlana Rudiuk is a project manager, producer. She has been involved in cinematography since 2016. Svitlana is a member of the Ukrainian Film Academy and the Union of Cinematographers of Ukraine. She has organized a number of charitable projects: a fundraiser for orphan children, a cultural and artistic event – a fashion show in which children with mental disorders took part, a series of practical art workshops for people with disabilities.

The film is directed by Snizhana Gusarevich. She graduated from Kyiv National I.K. Karpenko-Kary Theatre, Cinema and Television University. In 2014, during the Revolution of Dignity she made her first documentary “Unbreakable“. Together with “Dobranichfilm”, she worked on the documentary “Not alone”. The film received a special jury diploma at the Kharkiv Meet Docs Eastern Ukrainian Film Festival.

What are our goals?

1 creative
to come up with new creative solutions on how to integrate culture when working with children with special educational needs
2 non-discrimination
to draw attention to the problem of inclusion in society of children with special needs
3 tolerance
to develop a tolerant attitude of society to children with special educational needs

We would also like our film and art practices to be implemented in practical activities of many social institutions and rehabilitation centres of the country. Therefore, we have recorded our experience in this manual.

We invite everyone involved in the area of inclusive education to cooperate. We will be glad if you use our experience and leave feedback or ask for advice from our specialists.

You can do it in one of the following ways:
E-mail: goodnightfilmua@gmail.com
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/ProjectStarsontheEarth
Instagram – www.instagram.com/dobranichfilm
Phone: +380660347151

Documental film «Stars on the Earth»

“Stars on the Earth” is a film-observation of how 16 kids create their own fairy tale during a 15-day inclusive film and art workshop at the “Dzherelo” Rehabilitation Centre.

The project was created with the support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation. The position of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation may not coincide with the opinion of the authors.