September 24, 2010. Kyiv, Ukraine. |
Assholes. Arabesques Released in Kyiv. |
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It is nothing short of a miracle that Ukrainian culture demonstrates a stubborn resilience in response to the openly hostile policies by the current government of Viktor Yanukovych. An eloquent sign of its vitality is the new cinematographic initiative that sprang up from the grassroots with no government support entitled “The Assholes. Arabesques” (Mudaky. Arabesky).
Its goal is two-fold, one is to promote independent filmmaking, in Ukrainian, with Ukrainian talent, telling Ukraine-specific stories, and two – to generate a buzz around and support for a Ukrainian independent cinema, to attract a larger Ukrainian audience starved for films with whose characters it can identify. The project has been conceived and directed by Volodymyr Tykhy, a Kyiv-based filmmaker. The UFCCU has obtained the first fruit of this wonderful initiative, a 90-minute collection of feature shorts, released on a DVD, that was launched into Ukrainian distribution on September 23, 2010 by an official premier held at the Kyiv Cinema House, in the capital of Ukraine.
Each short is original, each is about contemporary Ukraine and populated by eminently recognizable characters, funny, dramatic or both. Viewing this first collection of “The Assholes. Arabesques” makes for a great entertainment. The collection was produced by the FilmToaster and CoffeePost production studios and co-produced by the Arthouse Traffic distribution company. A few selected shorts from the collection were shown at Columbia University on September 16, 2010 as part of the season-opening event of the Ukrainian Film Club to an enthusiastic audience reception. The Club plans to hold an official presentation of the DVD as is home event on October 21, 2010.
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