While watching the movie, Ukrainians will definitely find the world of Mavka quite native and familiar to them, for though the locations are imaginary, the animators significantly relied on Ukrainian nature — Polissia forests in particular.
It was the WWF-Ukraine team that helped the movie’s crew delve into the nature of Polissia and learn more about the rare inhabitants of Ukrainian forests.
Already at the stage of script writing, experts of WWF-Ukraine held lectures and consultations about the animals and plants from the Red Book of Ukraine for production designers.
Also, in order for the crew of the future movie to feel the atmosphere of the ancient forests of Polissia, WWF team accompanied an expedition for them to Polissia, namely the Polissia Nature Reserve and the Poyaskiv Reserve.
Participants not only enhanced their knowledge of flora and fauna but also made sketches of the sceneries, landscapes, and specific details, which were artistically embodied or reinterpreted in the movie.
Attentive viewers will notice 13 species of rare flora and fauna of Polissia, listed in the Red Book of Ukraine: Eurasian lynx, brown bear, black stork, and European bison; Old World swallowtail and zephyr blue butterflies; and plants: Campanula kladniana, Crocus heuffelianus, winged broom, poet’s daffodil, fairy primrose, snowdrop, and common yew. They peacefully coexist with other fabulous inhabitants of Mavka’s forest, which, unfortunately, we cannot see in real life.
“We are glad that one of the movie’s key motives is the importance and necessity of preserving nature, in particular untouched forests and rare animal species in Ukraine. The team’s deep immersion into the issue allowed them to recreate Ukrainian nature with special awe and attention,” Mariia Maksymenkova, Head of Communications and Marketing of WWF-Ukraine, shared her impressions after watching the movie.
WWF-Ukraine congratulates their old friends on the premiere and wish Mavka a happy journey around the world, as after Ukraine, the movie will be widely distributed around the world! The coverage will include European countries, in particular France, Italy, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Croatia, Great Britain, as well as Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, etc.
It is indeed crucial that viewers around the world will be now able to get to know the nature of Ukraine, which has today become a victim of the devastating war, more. And even though Mavka. The Forest Song is an imaginary fairy tale, we strongly believe that the happy ending of this story is definitely possible in reality!