A mesmerising and beautiful hymn to nature, Earth is recognised as one of cinema’s supreme visual masterpieces. It is a uniquely poetic cinema of the countryside, a paean to nature and those that toil the fertile earth of director Dovzhenko’s beloved Ukraine. 

From the opening shots of fields of grain waving in the wind under a vast sky, Earth is full of lyrical imagery that remains long in the mind. Incredibly, the film began as a propaganda assignment about the collectivisation of agriculture – the young people of the village welcome their first tractor, while the rich farmers plot to murder the peasants’ leader – which Dovzhenko transformed into a stunning work of cine poetry, a meditation on nature’s cycle of life and death.  

Ukrainian musicians Misha Kalinin (electric guitar) and Roksana Smirnova (piano) perform a new, jazz-based score —impressionistic soundscapes and atmospheric improvisations adding new dimensions to Dovzhenko’s iconic close-ups and vast, sweeping landscapes. 

This screening is organised with the financial support of the UK/UA Creative Partnerships programme designed by the British Council and the Ukrainian Institute.