Save the Zhovten — the First Step Done!

Збережемо «Жовтень» — перший крок зроблено! (укр)

On the 31^st of October 2014, beneath the building of the Kyiv City Hall gathered about 500 mostly young people to protect the Zhovten (October) cinema, which was burning in the evening of October 29. The picketers demand to deal with the fact of the arson of capital cinema and to allocate funds for its restoration. Studrespublika actively involved to the action.

The picketers read out their demands: an effective and transparent investigation and bringing to responsibility of customers and performers of the arson; allocation of funds for the restoration of the cinema room with the city budget; recovery of premises in accordance to the original design and intended purpose of the cinema; providing of opportunity to Cineman to conclude a lease agreement on transparent terms; ensure that the cinema with the site will not be transferred to the ownership of commercial structures; concrete steps for the protection of cultural and historical heritage of Kyiv.

So many beautiful faces, creative people, hipsters haven’t been on Khreschatyk since the days of the Maidan. Concerned citizens held placards with the inscription «Save the Zhovten, «Return the Zhovten! Or we’ll be back to the Kyiv city administration», «It’s more than a movie theater», «Power, first punish the Raiders», etc. and were chanting «Zhovten!» Any political and parties symbolic was banned. Also, during the campaign gathered signatures in order to add them to the requirement for the Kyiv city administration.

Republican leader Pavlo Viknyanskyy spoke at the beginning of the meeting. He called on to pay attention to a strange series of fires in Kyiv in areas which were encroaching by raiders. «Murashko’s Homestead, Guest House, house on Schekavytska Street, some other houses and even Agrarian University — all of them were set on fire, and no one knows why. Subsequently, all of them were either hostile takeover or there were tries of raider attacks. Previously this was in Yanukovych time and it restored nowadays again», — said Viknyanskyy.

Among the participants it was possible to see a lot of government officials both as newly elected as well as current MPs, deputies of Kyivrada, cultural and public figures. Lyudmyla Gordeladze, director of the cinema, perfomed during the meeting.

Mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko also said a word. Addressing the picketers, he informed that at today’s meeting of city deputies, which reviewed the issue concerning the situation surrounding the capital cinema Zhovten, was adopted a resolution and the decision to establish a fund to restore the object. Klitschko also instructed the Department of Finance of Kyiv city administration to find sources to finance the restoration of the cinema. «We offer Kyivrada deputies to appeal to the Interior Ministry, the General Prosecutor of Ukraine in order to the situation with the Zhovten cinema, cause of the fire, all involved, guilty were identified and incurred a penalty», — said the mayor of Kyiv. However, not all of his words were perceived very positively, picketers showed their mistrust. Promises have not persuaded people — we need real actions!

At the end of the picket, representatives of the organizers Zoryan Kis and Serhii Shchelkunov reminded that a work is just getting started. They invited to come for picketing to the CEC building on the 12^th of November at 10.00, where at this time will be held session of Kyivrada concerning the issue of preserving the Zhovten.

Recall that Studrespublika established a special public on Facebook in the evening of the arson. In parallel, other activists also organized themselves and put forward the idea to hold a picket near the building of Kyiv city administration to restore the Zhovten and punish the perpetrators of the crime, they created a corresponding event on Facebook. Yesterday the united organizational meeting of several dozen activists, whom hurts fire question at the legendary cinema, took place in the House of the Architect.

Get involved and continue to watch the situation around the fire investigation and restoration of cinema Zhovten in our community in Facebook «Save Zhovten — Kyiv» and the hashtag #savezhovten everywhere on the internet.