Cold Autumn winds and falling leaves announce the arrival of Kyiv’s biggest and oldest cinema event. Molodist (Youth) International Film Festival will take place for the 42nd time from Oct. 20 through Oct. 28.
No big celebrities are expected to attend the festival this year, but organizers promise a rich program for cinema fans of all tastes. Participants of the international competition program, which consists of student films, short films and full-length features, will compete for the statue of a golden Scythian Deer, the main prize and festival symbol. Also there will be a separate competition program for Ukrainian short films as well as non-competitive program offering the best movies from all over the world.
In total, an impossible 300 plus movies will be screened during nine days. Thus, the Kyiv Post chose 10 must-see movies. Some of them already screened at festivals in Berlin, Cannes, or Venice, while others will premiere at Molodist. All movies will be shown in their original languages with English subtitles. The full program is available at www.molodist.com
Pieta by Kim Ki-duk, 2012
The latest film by the great and unpredictable Korean director, Pieta, took the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival this year. The title of the movie comes from Michelangelo’s masterpiece sculpture and means “mercy” in Italian. The 18th feature by Kim depicts the mysterious relationship between a brutal lonely man who works for loan sharks, whose job is to threaten debtors to repay his clients, and a middle-aged woman who claims that she is his mother, mixing Christian symbolism and highly sexual content.
Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. in Kyiv cinema, Oct. 21 at 5:30 p.m. in Zhovten cinema.
Long Night of Swiss short films, 2008-2012
For the first time at Molodist there is a Swiss cinema program. Three Swiss directors who will come to the festival as guests are going to present their works in front of the audience. The 320-minute program includes fiction and documentary. The short films show the country’s beautiful nature, playful attitude to life and place in the global world. Many of the short films screened were participants of prior national and international festivals.
Oct. 20 at 11:30 p.m. in cinema Kyiv.
Sister (L’enfant d’en haut) by Ursula Meier, 2012
A drama is set at a luxury Swiss ski resort and centered on a boy who supports his jobless sister by stealing from wealthy guests. Every day, 12-year-old Simon takes the ski lift to the opulent world above, stealing equipment from the rich tourists to resell it to the local kids down below. As he partners with a crooked British seasonal worker, Simon loses his boundaries, which affects his relationship with his sister. The film won awards the international film festivals in Athens, Copenhagen, and Marburg, and also received a Silver Bear in Berlin this year.
Oct. 21 at 9:30 p.m. in Zhovten, Oct. 22 at 3 p.m. in Kinopanorama
Eastalgia by Darya Onyshchenko, 2012
The only full-length movie which represents Ukraine in an international competition program, Eastalgia is shot by Kyiv-born Darya Onyshchenko and is made in co-production with Germany and Serbia. The movie touches a topic of emigration painful and relevant for many countries. A middle-aged woman, Ukrainian emigrant, and a former Serbian boxer live in Germany. What they have in common is Slavic culture and their own children who are still living in Ukraine and Serbia. The movie offers three love stories, three European cities and three storylines.
Oct. 25 at 12 a.m. and 6:45 p.m. in Kyiv, Oct. 28 at 11:15 a.m. in Kyiv.
Flower Buds (Poupata) by Zdenek Jirasky, 2011
This year Molodist has a special focus on Czech cinematography. Flower Buds by Zdenek Jirasky, nominated for European Film Awards this year, takes part in a festivals competition program. The movie tells the story of the gradual breakdown of a family living in a small town. Agata wants a happy life far from home, fully aware that her only hope is to escape and therefore betray those close to her. Honza believes in the purity and power of love, regardless of the circumstances under which it is born. Kamila looks confidently to the future and does not intend to accept the misery of the present. The only Jarda, the gambler, knows that he will not change the world or himself.
Oct. 25 at 4 p.m. in Kyiv, Oct. 26 at 2:30 p.m. in Kyiv.
And a Warm Heart (Serce na dłoni) by Krzysztof Zanussi, 2008
Molodist offers a retrospective of Bohdan Stupka, the great Ukrainian actor who died on July 22. There will be an opportunity to watch 11 best movies with Stupka starting from his first role in The White Bird Marked with Black, 1970, to his last part in The Lieutenant Romashov, released this year after the actor’s death. And A Warm Heart is the second-last movie starring Stupka, in which he played an oligarch and got a prize for the best man role at the Rome International Festival in 2008. The movie by great Polish director Krzysztof Zanussi will be shown for the first time in Ukraine.
Oct. 25 at 5 p.m. in Kinopalats.
Eroticon by Gustav Machaty, 1929
When Czech director Gustav Machaty shot his movie Eroticon in 1929, cinema was still very puritan. Therefore his black-and-white silent film showing nude scenes was vividly discussed by the viewers. Machaty’s drama made history as one of the first films which did not hesitate to talk openly about sex. At Molodist, the old movie will be accompanied by modern experimental Prague band ICON orchestra.
Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. in Kinopanorama
Naked Harbour (Vuosaari) by Aku Louhimies, 2012
Louhimies is one of Finland’s most successful modern film directors, who depicts the true life of Finish society in contrast to the success story often told by the government. His movie Frozen Land was described by the Financial Times as “one of the grimmest and brutally honest portrayals of modern Finland to have hit the screens.” Louhimies’s latest drama, Naked Harbour is shot in the same color. The action takes place in Vuosaari, a neighborhood of Helsinki, and tells a story about the social state in the age of individualism and reality shows. The director is expected to present the film personally during the festival.
Oct. 26 at 9 p.m. in Kyiv, Oct. 28 at 8:15 p.m. in Kinopanorama.
Winter, Go Away! By 10 directors from Russia, 2012
For two months over the last winter, graduates of the Marina Razbezhkina and Michail Ugarov documentary school did not part with their cameras. Supervised by scrupulous teachers, 10 young directors shot chronicles of the so-called “white revolution,” when hundred thousand people rallied in downtown Moscow to protest against totalitarianism and lack of choice in the country ahead of the March presidential elections. This sharp movie depicts those who made last winter’s political weather, as well as those who were against the events. The long-awaited documentary will be the last of eight movies which presents new Russian cinema at the festival.
Oct. 27 at 3:30 p.m. in Kyiv, Oct. 28 at 8 p.m. in Kyiv.
Hunt (Jagten) by Thomas Vinterberg
This movie by famous Danish director won the prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the 2012 Cannes Festival for best actor. The award went to Mads Mikkelsen, the Danish actor who skillfully played the part of a kindergarten teacher falsely accused of child abuse. His character Lucas is recently divorced and has just started a new life with a new beloved, and a new job in a small Danish village before Christmas. Suddenly accused of abusing a young girl, Lucas is forced to fight not only for his reputation, but also his life as the tight-knit community goes into a state of hysteria.
Oct. 27 at 9:30 p.m. in Kyiv, Oct. 28 at 9 p.m. in Kinopalats.
Festival venues:
Kyiv, 19 Velyka Vasylkivska St. (former Chervonoarmiyska), 234-7381, kievkino.com.ua
Zhovten, 26 Kostyantynivksa St., 205-5951, zhovten-kino.kiev.ua
Kinopalats, 1 Instytutska St., 490-7060, kinopalace.net
Kinopanorama, 19 Shota Rustavelli St., 287-3041, kinopanopama.com.ua
Kyiv Post staff writer Oksana Faryna can be reached at [email protected]
