Episodes

Roman Pilipey is a Ukrainian photojournalist based in Kiyv. The first main event he witnessed as a photographer was the Euromaidan revolution in Kyiv, 2013-2014, when Ukraine showed its clear and unmistakable determination to be a part of Europe. It is no coincidence that the invasion and annexation of Crimea by Russian military happened only a few months later. From 2014, Roman was covering the, then still isolated, war in eastern Ukraine, and, in the same year, became the staff photographer f...

Today is a double premiere! For the first time I made an actual home visit and I conducted the entire interview in German! My apologies to all English native speakers, the next one will be for you again as well. Meine Reisegefährtin dieses Mal ist Iryna Schneider. Sie betreibt eine eigene Marketingagentur seitdem sie aus der Ukraine nach #München umgesiedelt ist. Über sich selbst sagt sie: “Tagsüber bin ich Marketingmanagerin und abends Künstlerin.” Wir unterhalten uns über ihre Kunst entlang de...

Mykola Kondrashev is an award-winning cinematographer and photographer based in Kiyv who also holds a master's degree in psychology. With his experience on a wide array of projects including commercial music videos, feature films, and television series, Mykola has honed his skills to create captivating and powerful visuals. Mykola’s impressive portfolio of projects spans the globe and he has worked with huge names like Coca-Cola, Radisson and Nescafé. Mykola’s dedication to his craft is evident ...

Gayane Arushanian is a multidisciplinary artist from Kyiv. She is the founder of the School of Experimental Art in Kyiv and the G-ART STUDIO in Zaporizhzhia. Gayané is not only an outstanding artist, but she also has a Master's in Urban Construction and Design and Economic Cybernetics from the Zaporizhzhia State Engineering Academy. Her mathematical knowledge and her artistic eye and love for colour enable her to create shapes, forms and colour patterns oscillating between harmony and chaos. She...

Anastasiia Sanzharovska is a producer, director, and video editor from Ukraine. She originally studied system analysis and maths but turned to her real passion film soon after finishing her studies. She has been working as a producer, director, 1st AD, and video editor ever since. In February 2022, Anastasiia was in Egypt for a 3-week holiday but got stuck there due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. She has been living there ever since. We'll talk about her early beginnings in filmmaking, why sh...

Today with us in the Yellow Van is Andriy Dubchak, a correspondent and photographer for Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty as well as the founder of the interactive media platform Donbas Frontliner. He specializes in telling the stories of soldiers and civilians caught up in the conflict in eastern Ukraine. He received a 2022 Free Media Award from the Fritt Ord and ZEIT foundations for his "courageous professional reporting from battle zones." Andriy also received a Lovie award for coverage of ...

With us in the Yellow Van this week are Dafna Rachok and Ivan Shmatko. Dafna Rachok is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Anthropology at Indiana University Bloomington. Her research seeks to understand how vulnerable groups in Ukraine respond to existing HIV prevention and treatment programs and how their attitudes to the state shape their desire or reluctance to seek those programs. Ivan Shmatko is a PhD student in sociology at the University of Alberta (Canada). Ivan has been a part of the ...

Nick Torzhevsky is a film director and producer from Kyiv with over 10 years of experience directing and producing broadcast TV series, commercials, and feature films. Nick's latest project, Ukraine Rebirth, is putting a focus on the rebuilding of Ukraine after the war - something that struck me as extraordinary as the war is still raging on without an end in sight. On the website of Ukraine Rebirth, the project is introduced as follows: "Our main message within the series, as seen from the titl...

Alex Kraev is a musical multi-talent who gave his soul to punk rock. He plays the drums, bass, and guitar in multiple bands and is an absolute musical powerhouse. His influences are many, but his goal is one and the same: to challenge stereotypes and self-imposed laziness of body and mind. His music is loud and gets under your skin. Challenging riffs, vocal cascades, energetic rhythms and climactic melodies tear you out of your comfort zone, sharpen your senses and abduct your body before they s...

Oleksiy Martsenyuk is the Executive Director of the Center for Defence Strategies in Kiyv, an organisation that helps to monitor defence reforms and develop key government policies that will affect the country's security and defence sector. This certainly needs a little more explanation from you, Oleksiy! And we will get into that in the course of the podcast. Also, he served as a Civilian Deputy Minister in the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence for just under a year. Originally, Oleksiy has a busin...

Anna Pykhtina is a communication and PR expert from Kyiv, Ukraine, focusing on Ukrainian NGO work and civic education, currently living in Warsaw, Poland. After the outbreak of the war, Anna and her boyfriend fled Ukraine to Poland, where they are currently living with friends. Anna was the president of AEGEE-Kyiv , Europe's biggest interdisciplinary student organization. She has been travelling extensively in Europe and is, I think it is safe to say, a strong proponent of the European idea. Add...

Oleksii Isakov holds a Master in Intercultural Communication Studies and a Bachelor in Linguistics and Translation Studies. His main focus is literature and film. He was born in Odesa and has been living in Germany for the last ten years working at the European-University Viadrina in Frankfurt a.d. Oder - the only university in Germany with a professorship for Ukrainian History, which says a lot about Ukraine's perception in Germany - and throughout the world. In preparation for our conversation...

In our first episode of the new season, our guest is film director, screenwriter, and creative producer Mariia Ponomarova (1991, Kyiv). Mariia studied film directing and screenwriting at Karpenko-Karyi Kyiv National University of Theatre, Cinema & Television in Ukraine graduating cum laude in 2013. Focusing on character development in film during her course, Mariia graduated from the Master of Film artistic research program in 2016 at the Netherlands Film Academy. Short fiction and documentary ...

Fonsi, the Yellow Van, is ready to depart for another season. Find out what the season is all about in this trailer. Music: Jim Kroft "Love In The Face Of Fear" Yellow Van Stories is a Mind The Bump Production Support the show Yellow Van Stories is a Mind the Bump Production.