MODERN DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING IN UKRAINE : TRANSFORMATION OF GENRES

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to explore the formation of new genres in contemporary Ukrainian documentary cinema. The study focuses on the processes of genre hybridisation that have reshaped the boundaries between artistic and journalistic discourse, resulting in the rise of new documentary forms such as infotainment, documentary activism, mockumentary, and science-popular cinema. The methodology. Achievement of the research is to reveal the multifaceted nature of documentary filmmaking and to approach as closely as possible to the realities of its artistic and communicative specificity. The study applies a systemic and comparative approach that enabled the identification of key tendencies in the transformation of Ukrainian non-fiction cinema. The structural and typological methods were used to describe the peculiarities of genre formation and transformation, while the case study method allowed for an analysis of specific examples from the works of contemporary Ukrainian filmmakers such as Serhii Bukovskyi, Iryna Tsilyk, Alina Gorlova and Roman Bondarchuk. The mentioned methods made it possible to determine the degree of genre diversification and to identify the key trends of hybridisation in modern Ukrainian documentary film. The results. The study revealed that contemporary Ukrainian documentary cinema is undergoing an active process of transformation, reflected in the blurring of boundaries between fiction and non-fiction, and in the formation of new hybrid genres that combine artistic imagery with factual representation. Documentary film has evolved from a purely informative medium into a creative audiovisual space of cultural reflection that integrates media, artistic, and civic practices. The scientific novelty is in the conceptualisation of Ukrainian documentary cinema as a flexible genre system, capable of adapting to socio-cultural changes in society.

The practical significance of the study is in the development of theoretical foundations for further research of genre transformations of Ukrainian documentary cinema, as well as in the application of the proposed analytical framework for the study of hybrid media forms in post-digital cinema.