Why film matters: Oksana Sarkisova on the importance of documenting society

In this conversation with RevDem assistant editor Lucie Hunter, Oksana Sarkisova – Blinken OSA Research Fellow and the Director of Verzió International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival – discusses the role of filmmaking in today’s society; how festivals are reacting to contemporary global conflicts and challenges; the importance of safekeeping visual archives; and how micro-histories help us understand the wider context.

Oksana Sarkisova is a Research Fellow at Blinken OSA Archive at Central European University and the Director of Verzió International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival in Budapest. Her fields of research are cultural history, memory and representation, film history, amateur photography, and visual studies. Besides university teaching, she also participated as a tutor in multiple workshops including Cinema Without Borders, and served as Jury member at international film festivals around the world.

Verzió International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, 19th edition, November 8-20, 2022. https://www.verzio.org/en