FILM.UA Group presents a pilot episode of Whose F*ck? – documentary series about the origin of Ukrainian swear words. The premiere will take place on May, 9th in a national online cinema SWEET.TV. It will be the first time when such a video will appear without any censorship or bleep censor on Ukrainian platforms. Watch the teaser on YouTube.
The filming began before the Russian-Ukrainian war started. Whose F*ck? was planned as an educational project that explores the part of the Ukrainian culture, which was taboo. It also refutes the misconception that the most common swear words have no Ukrainian roots, only Russian.
As for now, the project is even more topical. At the beginning of the war, the legendary phrase ”Russian warship, go f*ck yourself” became a motto of the fight for freedom. Swearing achieved new functions: now it is not only a way to express emotions but also a form of protest, a powerful weapon in the information war against the occupiers.
Dmytro Kuevda, author of the idea, creator and director of the documentary series, comments:
“Swearing in Ukrainian culture was always a hot button issue. However, very few people outside scientific institutions researched and spread the word about it. We decided to fix it. And now, when the war has started and the whole country convinces the Russian warship to go f*ck itself (“na khui” in Ukrainian, literally – “go to my d*ck”), Whose F*ck? acquires new meanings. Because we should not only point in the right direction but also prove that every word in our language is ours, not a legacy of the “older brother”.”
Every episode of the project is dedicated to one of the most popular swear words and fancy spheres of its usage. The documentary will tell about the origin and evolution of profanity from the times of Kyivan Rus to the present, its regional variations, how it differs from Russian swearing, what are hard words of different professions, cult obscene quotes, and cursing as a form of protest.
The first film will focus on the origin of swearing, how it was used by famous persons in history (i.e., Yaroslav the Wise), religious bans, media censorship, and the story of Did Panas. In Kyiv, specially for the project, a mural with the image of Petro Vesklyarov and his legendary phrase was created. He performed Did Panas (Grandpa Panas) in a children's TV show in the late '80s, and became a kind of folk hero because of words attributed to him: “That's how it’s f*cking going, kids”.
Although there is no direct evidence of the fact of his swearing at the TV show, this phrase became one of the first all-Ukrainian memes, still popular today.
The presenter of the project is Irena Karpa – writer, singer, journalist, and the first secretary of Culture for the Embassy of Ukraine in France.
Ostap Ukrainets, a famous philologist, became a consultant for the project. Popular experts of swearing, who regularly use it in their art, also appeared in the film: writer Les Podervyansky, standup comedian Andriy Schegel, blogger Serhiy Ivanov, founder of Wild Theater Yaroslava Kravchenko, vocalist of TNMK band Oleksandr «Fozzy» Sidorenko. On the opponent’s side, Archbishop of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine Yevstraty Zoria shared his thoughts.
“Let's be honest: Ukrainian swearing is an integral part of the development of the Ukrainian nation. Today we see the epic phrase about the warship written on billboards across the country. So stating that swear words are not part of our culture is deluding ourselves. SWEET.TV, as a national online cinema, will help to represent the Ukrainian language in various ways,” – said Oleksandr Rezunov, director of SWEET.TV.
Whose F*ck? supplemented the line of documentary projects of FILM.UA Group in Ukraine Originals format, dedicated to the cultural and traditional heritage of Ukrainians. This format is already represented by such projects as Back to Basics (about ancient costumes of different regions of Ukraine), Back to Basics. Wedding, (about wedding attires and ceremonies), Borsch. The Secret Ingredient (about the main Ukrainian dish). Now that list is extended by linguocultural exploration on a topic that has always been banned.
The filming of other episodes will start as soon as the situation in the country allows.
Stand with Ukraine! And Russian warship, go f*ck yourself!
