The Cinematheque hosts Ukrainian Poetic Cinema: Rebuilding National Identity series, October 23 to 29
Films on offer include Yurii Illienko’s The Eve of Ivan Kupalo and Borys Ivchenko’s The Lost Letter
The Eve of Ivan Kupalo
The Cinematheque is launching a new series, Ukrainian Poetic Cinema: Rebuilding National Identity, from October 23 to 29. This series offers the chance to see two of the brightest examples of Ukrainian poetic cinema, in signature films by Yurii Illienko and Borys Ivchenko.
In the 1960s, producers at Dovzhenko Film Studio wanted to adapt every story in Evenings Near the Village of Dikanka, an 1832 collection by Mykola Hohol (better known as Nikolai Gogol). Although considered a great avatar of Russian literature, Hohol was in fact born and raised in Ukraine, where these stories are set. Only two of the project’s films were ever completed: Illienko’s dreamlike forbidden love story The Eve of Ivan Kupalo in 1968 and Ivchenko’s comedic adventure-road movie The Lost Letter in 1972.
Both films draw deeply from Ukrainian folk traditions and from the country’s painful history.
For Ukrainian Poetic Cinema tickets and more information, visit The Cinematheque.
Post sponsored by The Cinematheque.
The Lost Letter
Related Articles
Amid small miracles, and also tragedies, Deanna Milligan and Ramsey Fendall conjured analogue, ’90s-era strangeness by adopting the spirit of a community art project
The theatre’s organ was installed in 1927—the same year Alfred Hitchcock released his first thriller, about a Jack the Ripper–esque killer
Retrospective unites the late British filmmaker’s feature-length works, including A Quiet Passion and Distant Voices, Still Lives
Short film poetically remembers a Black woman from an old photograph
With influences including Hideaki Anno and Alfred Hitchcock, debut feature by Surrey-raised director builds uncanny atmosphere as a quiet young woman points her camera into neighbours’ windows
Illustrated Legacies: Graveyard of the Pacific wins Nigel Moore Award; And the Fish Fly Above Our Heads و الأسماك تطير فوق رؤوسنا named best feature
Down-and-out buddies follow the randomness of life in evocatively shot Italian film by Francesco Sossai
At the VIFF Centre, debut feature by fast-rising filmmaker splices past and present in a powerful story that is part time-travel fiction, part nostalgic vision of ’90s Vancouver Island
The poignant film focuses on Vancouver singer-songwriter Cassidy Waring as she delves into an unresolved family tragedy
Without Fear, Early Cranes, and The Touch offer perspectives on preserving cultural identity amid hardship
Local duo’s live score to Carl Theodor Dreyer’s 1928 historical drama employed drones and dissonance to evocative effect
Koos van Nieuwkoop plays the historic Wurlitzer organ live to Alfred Hitchcock's 1927 thriller
Recipients were unveiled during a ceremony at Landmark Cinemas Guildford
Idyllic meditations, sharp investigations, and deeply personal questions arise in our quick takes on Green Valley, The Sandbox, There Are No Words, Numakage Public Pool, and Replica
The musical duo of Simon Dobbs and Jon McGovern found scoring Carl Theodor Dreyer’s 1928 film a more daunting prospect than they anticipated
Documentary by Eileen Francis and Evan Adams looks at the Tla’amin Nation’s efforts to change the contentious name of the city of Powell River
Contemplative new work by acclaimed filmmakers Jessica Johnson and Ryan Ermacora explores imperfect balance between an ancient, shifting ecosystem and a Cortes Island community of oyster farmers
In the National Film Board documentary making its local premiere at the DOXA Documentary Film Festival, Canadian director Kim Nguyen traces the repercussions of an execution photo through the decades
“Egg Yolk Custard Bun”, “Ramen Boys”, “It’s Not You”, and the feature Blood Lines contribute to a diverse and often playful program
A reed cutter tries to solve a murder in Academy Award submission for Best Foreign Language Film; plus documentaries and soccer as fest enters second installment
Director OK Pedersen narrates the cine-concert featuring violinist Eden Glasman and pianist Jakub Tokarczyk
