New Acquisitions. Summer-2009

June 20, 2009

Even though the last twelve months were marked by further decline in film production, Ukrainian films were still made, some of them to a severely limited theatrical release, others  shown at film festivals only. Our film collection  grew to include several new films each interesting in its own way as evidence of the current state of Ukrainian culture and society.
The feature narrative by Oles Yanchuk “Metropolitan Sheptytsky,” 2008, now available on DVD, is meant to celebrate the life of the Ukrainian Catholic Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky (1865-1944), a Ukrainian patriot, luminary, and humanist. The viewer is offered another film following the catechism of socialist realism with a liberal use of yellow and blue in lieu of the old Soviet red. There is a conflict between the good and the still-better, the characters are singularly virtuous or evil. The narrative is either boring or unbelievable or both, and the film seems endless. The generally mediocre quality of his work notwithstanding, Mr. Yanchuk is unrivaled among his peers in finding financing for his projects both from the government, private companies,  анд individuals in Ukraine and the diaspora.

Victoria Melnykova

The feature short “I” by Mykhailo Kaluzhny, a new name in Ukrainian cinema, is his graduation project inspired by the eponymous Mykola Khvyliovy’s story. Done in an atmospheric black-and-white or sepia and visually exaggerated manner, this work reveals a talent with promise.
Sasha Kirienko’s “Illusion of Fear” was partially financed by the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture creating at least an appearance of, if not a real, conflict of interest, for the script was written by the Vice Prime-Minister Oleksander Turchynov. The author represents a colonial mind-set among Ukrainian directors (others include Alan Badoiev, Eva Neymann, Kira Muratova, Roman Balayan, Oksana Bairak) whose works are made for the Russian market and therefore avoid references – cultural, linguistic or any other to Ukraine. It is widely believed that such references are bound to doom a film to failure with the Russian viewers. “Illusion of Fear” as well as Kirienko’s all previous oeuvre was originally shot in Russian. It is also available for purchase on DVD in Ukraine and that seems to be its only merit given the fact that many films that a viewer would enjoy do not get such a release.

The feature documentary “The Fourth Wave” by Victoria Melnykova is the first part in a series about the post-Soviet emigration from Ukraine. It seems that whatever subject this talented film maker chooses, it becomes a pretext to engage the viewer in yet another exploration of Ukrainian music. Her “Consonance” (2004) was about the history and current revival of Ukrainian choral tradition. “With Best Wishes, Enver” (2005) featured Ukraine’s jazz virtuoso Enver Izmailov, whose reinvention of his native Crimean Tatar music won him an international recognition. In this her most recent film (2008) Melnykova tells a fascinating story of another Ukrainian musical genius the composer Volodymyr Zubytsky who could not realize his potential in independent Ukraine and decided, like thousands of his other compatriots, to go abroad in search of opportunities. On July 27, 2009, “The Fourth Wave” had its US premier at Harvard University as part of the traditional Harvard Summer Ukrainian Film Series brought to that campus by the UFCCU. It had an enthusiastic reception. It is slated to open the Ukrainian Film Club’s sixth season on Columbia Campus on September 24, 2009.