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10 years after the release of his epic film MAIDAN, Sergei Loznitsa resumes his Ukrainian chronicles by documenting the country’s struggle against the Russian invasion. Shot over a 2-year period, the film portrays the life of the civilian population all over Ukraine. THE INVASION presents a unique and ultimate statement of Ukrainian resilience in the face of barbaric invasion. In the second part of his Ukrainian diptych, Loznitsa paints a monumental canvas of a nation determined to defend its right to exist.Read More »
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Yuri Illyenko, the master Ukrainian cinematographer who shot Sergei Paradjanov’s Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors (1965) and directed the long-banned A Spring for the Thirsty (1965) and The Eve of Ivan Kupalo (1968), based this striking 1990 allegorical film on stories by Paradjanov that were inspired by his long sojourns in prison. The film was shot at the prison where Paradjanov was confined, using contemporary prisoners as extras, and it might be said that the documentary and poetic-symbolic aspects of this movie are equally germane to its overall impact. Three days before his sentence is to end, a prisoner (Victor Solovyov) escapes and hides out inside a giant hammer and sickle that borders the prison grounds, where he is discovered and nursed back to health by a beautiful woman (Liudmyla Yefymenko, Illyenko’s wife) who becomes his lover. One of the first independent Soviet productions, partially financed in Sweden and Canada, the film tells its story with a minimum of dialogue and very striking imagery. – Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago ReaderRead More »
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In Ukraine, the KGB archive of countless files containing reports on covert observations has been made accessible to the public. What happens once you find out that the state has been watching you for years? Based on encounters with people who are confronted with their own surveillance reports, the film sketches a time when the paranoia of the Soviet regime infiltrated into private lives.Read More »
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The young peasant, Petro, falls deeply in love with the daughter of his employer. Though she reciprocates his affection, her father staunchly opposes the idea of her marrying a simple laborer. Overwhelmed by grief, Petro seeks solace at a local tavern, where he encounters Basavriuk, a figure believed by many to be the devil himself. Basavriuk presents Petro with a chilling proposition, one that could enable him to win the girl he yearns for.Read More »
Destruction in Ukraine war shown through lengthy tableaux. Soldiers’ phone calls to families reveal parallel world. Sound and image confront one another.Read More »
Abel Ferrara explores human conflict and the search for peace and balance through the music and words of Patti Smith and the experiences of people at war in Ukraine.Read More »
Ukraine, 1996. 5 months before the moratorium on the death penalty, two old friends, a police detective and a forensic psychiatrist, investigate a murder of their colleague.Read More »
Sunshine, a beautiful scenery and a good time with loved ones: a Ukrainian family is spending their last holidays on the island of Tenerife. Little do they know that the next day their lives will change forever when Russia attacks their homeland and their flight back to Kiev is being cancelled. From one day to the next, they are no longer tourists on the volcanic island, but refugees – trapped in paradise. This sensitive and authentic family drama shows us the effects of war without any battle scenes. ‘Damian Kocuur’s feature film debut is a breathtaker. No other feature film has managed to convey the helplessness and powerlessness of the Ukrainians with such sensitivity.’Read More »
