Original title: Annychka

Copyright: the Oleksander Dovzhenko Film Studio, Kyiv, Ukraine, 1968.

Format: feature narrative

Carrier: DVD

Color: black and white

Length: 84 min.

Original language: Ukrainian

English subtitles: yes

Film crew

Director: Borys Ivchenko

Script writer: Borys Zahorulko and Viktor Ivchenko

Director of photography: Mykola Kulchytsky

Production designer: Valerii Novakov

Original music: Vadym Homoliaka

Sound editor: Ryva Bisnovata

Produced by the Oleksander Dovzhenko Film Studio, Kyiv, Ukraine.

Film cast:

Liubov Chernoval-Rumiantseva as Annychka, Grigore Grigoriu as Andrii, Kostiantyn Stepankov as Kmet', Ivan Mykolaichuk as Roman, Anatolii Barchuk as Yaroslav,  Ivan Havryliuk as Ivanko, Olha Nozhkina as Annychka's mother, Boryslav Brondukov as Krup'iak, Vasyl Symchych as Semen.

Synopsis

This film is a romantic story of love between a Hutsul girl and wounded Soviet guerrilla Andrii whom she rescues from a certain death. The events unfold against the backdrop of WW2 presented with many obligatory falsehoods of the imperial Russian historiography: heroic Soviet guerrillas, poor and backward Hutsuls, rich Hutsuls betraying their own people and collaborating with the enemy, Ukrainians incapable of their own agency. Crude and mendacious as it is, this ideology is relegated to the narrative background, and the viewer's attention gets quickly captivated by the artistic fortes of the film: riveting stage presence of Kostiantyn Stepankov, Ivan Mykolaichuk, Boryslav Brondukov and the debuting Ivan Havryliuk; gorgeously atmospheric photography of Mykola Kulchytsky, beautiful faces, language, and dress of the Carpathian Ukrainians, and a faithful presentation of Hultsul folk culture devoid of typically condescending Soviet colonial slant.

This film has been restored and digitally re-mastered as part of the 8-disk DVD gift set "Ukrainian Film Classics. Ivan Mykolaichuk," issued by the National Oleksander Dovzhenko Center in 2010.