Editor’s note: Ukraine’s most famous film festival Molodist continues until Oct. 30. It is heavy on French, Polish, German and Scandinavian films, among others. The competition program includes 12 films, some of which you can catch this weekend. Find the full program at www.molodist.com
SEPARATION
(Jodaeiye Nader Az Simin)
Drama
Iran 2011
Language: Farsi with Eng and Ukr subtitles
Sat, Oct. 29 at 7:30 p.m., Zhovten cinema
“Separation” is a moving personal story of one family bereaved by an illness. The mother wants to leave Iran to provide a better care for their only daughter but the father insists on staying as he feels responsible for his ageing father, who has Alzheimer’s. The cultural norms and Western ideals clash as the family looks for a compromise. The importance and pressure of the Koran in this story is palpable. Tension mounts as the mother decides to get a divorce. At Berlin film festival earlier this year, “Separation” won three awards for best film, best female and male actor ensembles.
WARSAW BATTLE 1920
(Bitwa Warszawska 1920)
Historical drama
Poland 2011
Language: Polish with Eng and Ukr subtitles
Sat, Oct. 29 at 9:30 p.m., Kyiv cinema
An epic drama about the history-changing victory of Polish troops over the Red Army, which stopped the Bolsheviks’ march across Europe, has been screened in Warsaw and London already. The film has it all: a love story, bloody war scenes and episodes with historical figures of Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin and Polish President Jozef Pilsudski. Kyiv is mentioned in the film as Ukrainian troops helped to fight the Bolsheviks after Pilsudski made an agreement with Ukrainian leader Symon Petlyura to liberate Kyiv. The Ukrainian People’s Republic existed for almost three years, from 1917 till 1920. During this short period, Kyiv was taken 18 times by different troops. This is Poland’s first picture in 3D. Jerzy Hoffman, 79-year-old director famous for his historical films, opened Molodist on Oct. 22 with his “Battle.” It will be screened again on Saturday.
LAND OF OBLIVION
(La Terre Outragee)
Drama
France, Poland 2011
Language: French with Eng and Ukr subtitles
Sat, Oct. 29 at 4:45 p.m., Kyiv cinema
Sun, Oct. 30 at 3 p.m., Kyiv cinema
You may remember Ukrainian Olga Kurilenko as James Bond’s latest girlfriend. Now picture her as young bride Anya about to tie the knot with Piotr in Prypyat, the town only a few kilometers away from Chornobyl. Wearing a white cake dress, the happy brunette is swirling in a dance with her family. Hours later her husband is summoned to put out the fire in what turns out to be the worst nuclear accident in history. A few years later, she dyes her hair blonde and becomes a tour agent in Chornobyl unable to break ties with her home land and the husband, who still didn’t come back. The film is a part of the competition program.
THE LITTLE ROOM
(La Petite Chambre)
Drama
Switzerland 2010
Language: French with Eng and Ukr subtitles
Sat, Oct. 29 at 5 p.m., Kinopanorama cinema
Unwilling to be sent to a retirement home, Edmond fights his age and his homecarer Rose. A bereaved mother, Rose has little enthusiasm about her own life and seems like the last person who can help Edmond in his thirst for living. But it is the bad temper, which they both have in abundance, that will draw them closer and help overcome the feelings of uselessness and lost. This moving drama was nominated for Oscar’s for its original plot and punchy dialogues last year. It didn’t win the Academy Award but it might score at Molodist – “The Little Room” is on the competition program.
THE HOUSE
(Dom)
Drama
Czech Republic, Slovakia 2011
Language: Czech with Eng and Ukr subtitles
Sun, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m., Kinopanorama cinema
Enduring his grim job in the bottling factory, Imrich has one dream in life – to build a modest house for each of his beautiful daughters. But neither of them wants to stay in the family nest and so the adventures of a middle class family in a small Eastern European town begin. The older daughter marries a man that her father did not approve and falls out of favor. Her younger sibling Ewa has similar plans but outside Slovakia. A church organist and a smart student, she wants to move to London. Father Imrich, however, keeps building a house for Ewa hoping to lock her up when the time comes. A family saga, both funny and sad, highlights the struggle between freedom versus tradition and domestic comfort versus the lure of the unknown. “The House” is on the competition list.
KYIV
19 Velyka Vasylkivska St. (former Chervonoarmiyska), 234-7381
www.kievkino.com.ua
ZHOVTEN
26 Kostyantynivska St., 205-5951
www.zhovten-kino.kiev.ua/
KINOPANORAMA
19 Shota Rustaveli St., 287-30-41
www.kinopanorama.com.ua
