Editor’s note: If Hollywood thrillers and romantic comedies run in Ukrainian cinemas regularly, independent dramas and documentaries rarely get a visa to Kyiv theaters. The American Independence Film Festival aims to restore balance presenting the other slice of America with a focus on family, love, religion and politics. All showings will take place in Kyiv cinema. For a complete program, go to www.aiff.com.ua.
MY PERESTROIKA
Documentary
USA 2010
Language: Rus with Eng subtitles
Nov. 18 at 7 p.m., Nov. 19 at 5 p.m.
An intimate story of five friends born and raised in the Soviet Union is carefully reconstructed in Robin Hessman’s film about the great country, which has been seen as a threat by some and a blessing by others.
His characters are a fairly ordinary group, including a punk musician and a single working mother, which endears the viewer from the onset and strips the story of pretence and political judgement.
They grow up loving their olivier salads and trusting their leaders but as they enter adulthood, the system collapses taking their dreams away. They struggle to adapt and question new Russia and its underpinnings.
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
Drama, comedy
USA 2010
Language: Eng with Ukr subtitles
Nov. 18 at 9:20 p.m., Nov. 19 at 5 p.m.
Nominated for Academy Awards in 2010 for Best Original Screenplay, this story about a lesbian family has been written by director of Ukrainian descent Liza Kholodenko.
The lesbians’ teenage children, who have been conceived via artificial insemination, learn who their father is secretly from their mothers. As their friendship grows, not only the kids but one of the mothers develops a bond with the man who now wants to be a part of the family.
As the issues of love, infidelity and children’s upbringing merge together, the lesbian family, it turns out, is no different to traditional couples and faces the same challenges.
KINYARWANDA
Drama
USA 2011
Language: Eng with Ukr subtitles
Nov. 19 at 7 p.m.
Winner of Sundance 2011 festival, “Kinyarwanda” volleys between six different stories that together paint a broad picture of the genocide in Rwanda in 1994.
Based on true accounts, the film follows a respected Muslim leader who forbids his faithful in participating of killing the Tutsi, a minority people in Rwanda.
Taking refuge in a mosque, boundaries between two warring nationalities get erased as they struggle to protect each other.
MARGIN CALL
Thriller
USA 2011
Language: Eng with Ukr subtitles
Nov. 19 at 9:20 p.m.
A highly tense corporate drama that digs into the heart (or guts) of the financial crisis at Wall Street two years ago is squeezed into 36 hours for its actors.
You only have an hour and 45 minutes to live through speedy lay offs, disastrous balance sheets, ethical issues and white-collar dreams deconstructed.
A second-tier investment banker finds out that his firm is on the edge of a cliff and only manages to warn his colleague before getting quickly cleared out of the building. Stress, cigarettes, and swearing will be the bankers’ true companions until the closing captions.
HIGHER GROUND
Drama
USA 2011
Language: Eng with Ukr subtitles
Nov. 20 at 7 p.m.
Ukrainian-American Vera Farmiga directed and played the lead part in a deeply touching story of a girl’s undeniable faith in God and her disenchantment with it as a woman.
Based on Carolyn S. Briggs’s memoir “This Dark World,” the screenplay follows Corine through her daily activities and communications with family and parishioners, which either reaffirm or hinder her belief.
BLUE VALENTINE
Drama, romance
USA 2010
Language: Eng with Ukr subtitles
Nov. 20 at 9:20 p.m.
Both coming from dysfunctional families, Dean and Cindy are ecstatic about each other and believe they can break through their unhappy childhoods.
Dean is a happy-go-lucky painter, who has little ambition to succeed professionally, while Cindy works as a nurse and allows herself to dream big.
Floating in different directions, their relationship finally hits the rocky bottom but instead of fleeing the ship, they give each other one last chance to mend it.
FOLK!
Documentary
USA 2010
Language: Eng with Ukr subtitles
Nov. 19 at 9:20 p.m. and Nov. 20 at 5 p.m.
Produced and narrated by an American filmmaker of Ukrainian descent Roxy Toporowych, the documentary tells the story of a Ukrainian prima ballet dancer.
When the legendary choreographer unexpectedly dies right before her grand show, dancers from across North American flock to New York to put her dream to life.
With tensions running high before the launch, the viewer is admitted to cultural and social underpinnings that describe the Ukrainian community in the U.S.
KYIV
19 Velyka Vasylkivska St.
(former Chervonoarmiyska),
234-7381
www.kievkino.com.ua
