Deadline: 17-Jul-20
The U.S. Embassy in Ukraine has announced an open competition for organizations or individuals to submit applications to carry out a program (or programs) to produce innovative, “crowdsourced” digital media content highlighting Ukrainians’ personal stories of the country’s recent history and the development of Ukrainian democracy.
The grantee will produce a digital media product featuring oral histories of a significant event in Ukraine’s development as a sovereign, democratic state.
Encouraging dialogue and fostering a sustainable culture of historical inquiry through digital media is a central goal of this project. Projects should therefore include some element of public participation in the production process, ideally empowering Ukrainians to record their own stories themselves. Proposals should therefore include plans to identify relevant participants and train them on digital storytelling techniques, including how to conduct interviews and how to record their own stories (or those of neighbors, relatives, and friends) in a manner suitable for use in professional quality broadcast products. The final product should draw on these “crowdsourced” stories in its final presentation.
While it is not a requirement, preference will be given to projects that propose to utilize the U.S. Embassy’s network of American Spaces (in particular America House Kyiv and its affiliate centers in Kharkiv, Odesa, and Zaporizhia) in this process. American Spaces offer specialized event space for conducting lectures, workshops, and masterclasses, and offer facilities where members of the public can make and edit professional-quality audio and video recordings. UA:PBC regional affiliates’ studios can also be used for content production, subject to availability. Applicants proposing to use these spaces therefore do not need to account for venue rentals or the purchase of production equipment in their proposals.
A focus on historical events frequently mischaracterized in Russian disinformation narratives and/or otherwise co-opted by malign foreign actors is encouraged. Potential topic themes may include (but are not limited to):
- The 1986 Chornobyl disaster and its political ramifications
- Ukraine’s 1991 independence referendum and the collapse of the USSR
- The post-Soviet homecoming of Crimean Tatar communities
- The Orange Revolution
- The Revolution of Dignity
- Other significant historical events within living memory that were instrumental to Ukraine’s independence and the development of its democracy
The final product should be a media product such as a podcast, a collection of online videos, a series of short radio or television stories, and/or the equivalent.
Funding Information
- Length of performance period: 12 months
- Number of awards anticipated: 1-6, pending availability of funds
- Award amounts: awards may range from a minimum of $25,000 to a maximum of $150,000
- Total available funding: $150,000
Eligibility Criteria
The following organizations are eligible to apply:
- Not-for-profit organizations, including think tanks and civil society/non-governmental organizations. Organizations may be registered in Ukraine, the United States, or third countries.
- Educational institutions.
- Individuals, including academic researchers, freelance journalists, and freelance producers.
Applicants are encouraged to demonstrate the ability to operate in Ukraine and to produce professional quality digital media products in Ukrainian.
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=327745
