Cinenews

March 15, 2010. Kyiv, Ukraine.

Arabesques. Alternative Way for Independent Filmmaking


Poster of Myroslav Slaboshpytsky’s short “Deafness.”

A new film project entitled “Blockheads. Arabesques” offers an alternative way of independent filmmaking in a specifically Ukrainian setting. Given the corrupt and inapt Ministry of Culture, complete absence of financial support for Ukrainian film industry from the government, and unchallenged domination of Russian and American product in the market, the new project calls for creative and financial self-reliance, use of digital technologies, and minimalist budgets.


Among its initiators are the directors Volodymyr Tykhyi, Ivan Sautkin, Oleksander Stekolenko, Roman Bondarchuk, Marko Horobets, Vira Yakovenko and others. The participants enjoy a maximum of creative freedom while faithfully following three basic rules that are a no-brainer for any other national cinema but appear truly revolutionary in Ukraine, that is experiencing a resurgence of Russian cultural hegemony in all spheres of life. These rules are: 1) to film here, that is in and about Ukraine; 2) to film now, that is about real-life contemporary issues (no Cossacks and glorious history in baggy pants); 3) to film about everyday common people (no oligarchs or Hollywood-type heroes).


The project was announced in September 2009 at the House of Filmmakers in Kyiv, and made its first breakthrough with the official selection of the film “Deafness” (Hlukhota), director Myroslav Slaboshpytsky, one of its initiators, by the Berlin International Film Festival in 2010. Even though the film failed to win any prize, in the words of the influential film critic Volodymyr Voitenko, “the fact of its selection by one of the most prestigious international film forums was already a victory.”

Ukrainian Film Club of Columbia University© 2015. For more information please contact Yuri Shevchuk