Ukrainian Cinema Days in London take place on Dec. 10-13 in RichMix cinema in Shoreditch. The festival was initiated by Kyiv International Film Festival (IFF) Molodist, Ukrainian State Film Agency and supported by the Igor Iankovskyi Charity Foundation Initiative for the Future. The event is held in London for the first time.
The
organizers say that they want to go beyond the headlines of war and politics
and shed a different light on Ukraine.
“The
goal of our joint project with the Ukrainian State Film Agency and the Igor
Iankovskyi, Charity Foundation Initiative for the Future is to introduce
foreign audiences to Ukrainian cinema – both modern and classic,” said Andriy
Khalpakhchi, general director of Kyiv Molodist IFF on Ukrainian Cinema Days in
London. “We are confident that such an introduction will contribute to the
positive image of Ukraine around the world.”
The program
of the festival includes five feature films and six short films. All films are
shown in Ukrainian language with English subtitles. Tickets are available at
http://www.richmix.org.uk/whats-on/festival/ukrain….
‘White Bird with a Black Mark’
The film,
regarded by the film critics as a masterpiece of Ukrainian poetic cinema, shows
the life of a poor family living in the Carpathian Mountains near the Romanian
border during the World War II.
Dec. 11, 6:15
p.m., £6
‘Trumpeter’
This family
musical comedy revolves around the young trumpeter Mykola Shevchenko playing in
a pop brass band. He composes his own music that attracts the attention of
world famous musician Eugene Gaisin. It is a story of rivalry between two
children’s orchestras and, like in the adult world, there is love, intrigue,
jealousy and, of course, a happy ending.
Dec. 12, 1:15 p.m., £6
‘The Guide’
Ukraine,
1930s. American engineer
Michael Shamrock (Jeff
Burrell) arrives in
Kharkiv with his 10-year-old son, Peter (Anton Greene) to
help “build socialism.” He falls in love with an actress named Olga (played by Ukrainian singer Jamala). Under
tragic circumstances, the American is killed and his son is saved from his
pursuers by a blind singer, or a
kobzar
(Stanislav Boklan). With no other chance to survive in a foreign land, the boy
becomes his guide.
Dec. 12, 3:45 p.m., £6
‘Firecrosser’
When the Soviet
troops free Ivan from prison, he is charged with high treason and faces a long
sentence in a Siberian camp. Not wanting to die behind barbed wire or wait for
an amnesty, Ivan escapes…
Dec.13, 2:45 p. m. £6
Ukrainian Short Films
The collection of the
best short films of the Molodist Festival 2015, including “Once Upon a Mine”
(filmed in eastern Ukraine during the war) and “Away” (winner of Molodist) will
show different sides of modern Ukraine.
Dec. 13, 12:15 p.m. – 2:10 p.m., £6
Dec. 10-13, Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road,
E1 6LA.
Kyiv Post intern Anastasia Shepeleva can be
reached at
[email protected]
