Underseen On Screen in Moldova
Underseen, our EU-funded documentary film about the Museum in the Dark in Ukraine, had a private screening in Chisinau, Moldova. A select audience of social investors, regional organisations and national stakeholders in the EU-funded Collaborate for Impact-project united to see the film and to partake in a subsequent discussion and networking session.
The screening was set up within the framework of a two-day partners meeting within the Collaborate for Impact-project, which has been ongoing since 2020. The program, initiated by Impact Europe, unites partners from Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia in a five-year endeavour to help promote the social economy, set up impact funds and support social entrepreneurs and policy advancement in the Eastern Partnership.
While the main agenda of the partners meeting revolved around evaluation, finetuning of processes and how to proceed in the last formal year of the project, the screening of Underseen offered a valuable opportunity to visualize some of the actual impact generated on the ground.
A crowd of project partners, social entrepreneurs from Moldova and other regional impact actors made their way to Mediacor to be a part of the exclusive screening event. It’s the first of what is to be a series of pre-screenings in Eastern Europe, bringing the impactful documentary back to the region it represents. A similar private screening is scheduled for November 12th in Kyiv. As a part of a larger impact campaign, the film will also be entered into different festival competitions across the world.
After all, it is a story worth telling to audiences far and wide. Underseen introduces us to Alina, the founder of a museum run by the visually impaired, as she navigates the meaning of her “Museum in the Dark” in the darkness of wartime. She is joined by other strong Ukrainian women who join forces to build a more socially inclusive future for Ukraine. The museum is one of the portfolio companies of the Ukrainian Social Venture Fund, which was set up within the framework of the Collaborate for Impact project.
To add context, the screening was complemented by a panel discussion with contributions from Alena Kalibaba, the CEO of the Ukrainian Social Venture Fund, Vladimir Ternavschi, Executive Director of EcoVisio and Victoria Novac, a seasoned Moldovan social entrepreneur (i.e. at sustainable toy enterprise EduJoc). The discussion was moderated by Tom Dinneweth and Martijn Blom, both active with Impact Europe. They discussed the challenges and unique advantages of social entrepreneurship in conflict situations, the power of storytelling in lifting the social economy to the next level and their own personal hopes for the film, going forward.
Underseen is a production by Impact Europe and DEIA Media, made possible through the financial support of the European Union. You can learn more about it by exploring our dedicated coverage of the film.