One of the aspects of ASK WHY? Docs that makes the project so memorable for Danish students are the guest speakers that accompany each film.

This season alone students have the opportunity to meet people who have direct experience with war, slavery, extremism, seeking asylum and homelessness. Guest speakers are carefully selected to give context to the topics featured in the documentaries shown, which are often difficult for younger students to understand. After each screening, the guests are there to talk about their experience  and answer questions.

But it can also be a transformative experience for the guests themselves.

Tetiana Chyzh joined the team in November 2023 as guest speaker for Simon Lereng Wilmont’s documentary The Distant Barking of Dogs. Set in Eastern Ukraine on the frontline of the war, the film follows the life of 10-year-old Oleg throughout a year, witnessing the gradual erosion of his innocence under the pressure of war.

Tetiana grew up in Volnovakha, Eastern Ukraine, the same region featured in the documentary. She has a deep understanding of what it's like to live with the sound of bombs and sirens every day. A year after the war began, she moved to Copenhagen and has been working here ever since. She is constantly battling to maintain what she calls a ‘War-Life Balance’, but she feels that her work with ASK WHY? Docs is helping her to come to terms with her experience:

This project transformed my traumatic experience into something meaningful for other people - It empowers me very much,” she says, “I remember there was one question that definitely invoked something very deep inside of me. One of the students asked: Do you feel homeless? This is a question that I will definitely remember because when you're a refugee and when you are going to another country with only a backpack, you understand that right now, you start your life completely from scratch,” she explains. “Of course you feel homeless, because then you basically have nothing, you just have your personality.”

Tetiana is the first ASK WHY? guest that has spoken to the students in English. Though the team were initially unsure if the Q&A section would work well in the students' second language, all of the screenings have been a huge success.

Teacher Helle Hedegaard from Hulvej Privatskole commented “In these particular sessions, it adds an extra dimension to see and hear from someone who has personally experienced it, providing a different perspective than what one would typically see and hear.”

Tetiana  hopes that watching the film and hearing her story will instill long lasting empathy and understanding in the students for people in difficult situations - particularly refugees:

It was really important for me to share my story with the students because I hope that through our conversations and through watching the documentaries, they will gain a deeper understanding and awareness of how refugees feel after being in a war zone. I'm not only talking about Ukrainian refugees - there are so many wars happening right now. I hope that our younger generation will have a broader perspective of the feelings of each refugee, and perhaps in the future, after participating in these conversations, they will help others to defend their rights when it's needed.

We are delighted to have Tetiana on board!