The Brighton Film Festival

UKRAINE ON SCREEN is a celebration of Ukrainian cinema past and present. 

Featuring a set of screenings and special events around pioneer filmmakers Oleksandr Dovzhenko and Sergei Parajanov, programmes of new short films specially curated by Kyiv International Short Film Festival and the UK premiere of an acclaimed new feature documentary. 

CELEBRATING SERGEI PARAJANOV

To mark the 100th anniversary of Parajanov’s birth, we’ll be celebrating the enduring legacy of the visionary director. Born in Georgia to Armenian parents, Parajanov spent most of his working life in Ukraine. He once declared: ‘I am an Armenian, born in Tiblisi, incarcerated in a Russian prison for being a Ukrainian nationalist’.

We’re pleased to present a brand-new restoration of one of the totemic examples of Ukrainian poetic cinema, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors. Based on the 1911 novel by Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky, Parajanov takes a simple Romeo and Juliet story, set amongst Ukrainian Hutsuls in the Carpathian Mountains of Western Ukraine, that redefined what cinema could be.

Screening with Kyiv Frescoes. What was supposed to become a feature-length film about the aftermath of WWII in contemporary Kyiv, only exists today as a 15-minute series of screen tests collaged together by Parajanov after the production was terminated by the Russian authorities and his negatives destroyed.

Never seen before in the UK, Temple of Cinema #1: Sayat Nova Outtakes will be coming to Fabrcia, Brighton from Oct 31 – Nov 10. The exhibition, curated by Daniel Bird for CINECITY repurposes over three hours of newly scanned, unseen film footage and camera tests from director Sergei Parajanov’s masterpiece The Colour of Pomegranates (1969). Creating a stunning series of dreamlike tableaux and a remarkable insight into Parajanov’s creative process, the exhibition presents these rare moving images embedded in a series of specially constructed platforms containing 24 monitors.

OLEKSANDR DOVZHENKO

Recognised as one of cinema’s supreme visual masterpieces, Earth is a uniquely poetic cinema of the countryside, a paean to nature and those that toil the fertile earth of Dovzhenko’s beloved Ukraine. Ukrainian musicians Misha Kalinin (electric guitar) and Roksana Smirnova (piano) will perform a new live score of impressionistic soundscapes and atmospheric improvisations adding new dimensions to the iconic close-ups and vast, sweeping landscapes.

KYIV INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM FESTIVAL

In a special collaboration with Kyiv International Short Film Festival, two programmes of recent short films made by Ukrainian directors, will be presented. In Programme One: Ukrainian Cities Talking, the directors of five short films capture the essence of cities, homes, and their own lives, conveying a mix of fleeting peace and underlying tension. The films of In Programme 2: Ukraine. Displaced delve into the emotional landscapes of those forced to flee, capturing the essence of starting anew and the challenges of adapting to a new reality while preserving one’s roots.

UK PREMIER

Screening for the first time in the UK, Flowers of Ukraine (winner of the Silver Eye Award at the East Doc Platform in Prague) depicts 67-year-old Natalia’s rebellious spirit and humour as she sets out to protect her land from property developers and then the Russian invaders. Featuring music from renowned Ukrainian ensemble DakhaBrakha.

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