Zavtra.UA scholarship holders implement their project “The Moon’s Child” to raise awareness for disabled people

On October 21, 2010, Zavtra.UA scholarship holders started their human rights project “The Moon’s Child”. To raise awareness for people with special needs, they show the film “The Moon’s Child” in ten Ukrainian universities and organize public discussions about the movie.

Besides raising awareness, the project also aims at encouraging networking among students, public institutions and NGOs dealing with this issue. The ultimate goal is to contribute to the inclusion of disabled people in social life all over Ukraine.

The “Moon’s Child” project lasts 8 weeks. Since October 21, the film was screened in Severodonetsk, Luhansk, Uzhgorod, Ostroh, Khmelnytsky and Zaporizhzhia. It will next be shown in Simferopol (10.11) and in Kyiv (end of November). On the occasion of the International Day of Persons With Disabilities on December 3, the project will present brochures documenting its work at a press conference.

The “Moon’s Child” project was developed by scholarship holders of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation’s Zavtra.UA program from 10 Ukrainian universities. They presented the idea at the 3rd Zavtra Youth Forum on May 17-20, 2010 in Kyiv upon the initiative of Maryna Shkuropat, an independent producer and script writer, with whom they also developed the project plan.

The film “The Moon’s Child” (Il Figlio della luna, 2007) by Italian director Gianfranco Albano is based on the true story of a handicapped young man. It won prizes at a number of international television festivals in 2007, among them the AMADE-UNESCO Prize in Monte Carlo, the Golden Magnolia in Shanghai and the Golden Olive Award for the best feature movie in Bar, Montenegro.

For more information on the project, please visit www.moonchild.org.ua