Ep# 62 - Ukrainian National Cinema in the 60s

With all of the talk of Ukraine happening right now, Cinema60 figured it was a good a time as any to see what films they could find. The films selected for this episode were mainly produced by Dovzhenko Film Studios in Kyiv during the post-Stalinist thaw that resulted in a push to create a uniquely Ukrainian Cinema that could be presented to the rest of the Soviet Union to demonstrate the diversity of cultures that have come together under one glorious united socialist banner.

And so, Cinema60 tackles its most obscure batch of movies yet! It’s a whole episode on Ukrainian cinema of the 60s that doesn’t even include Sergei Parajanov’s Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, the one Ukrainian film of the era that’s received significant international recognition. But before you turn that dial… wait! We’ve got at least four stone cold must-see classics here (which four those are depends on if you ask Jenna or Bart) plus a couple others that provide major insight into the values and traditions of a people that have been on all our minds lately. All six of these films are well-known and beloved by Ukrainians as major cultural touchstones and deserve wider recognition.

While Bart and Jenna discuss what it is that makes these films “uniquely Ukrainian,” they mostly focus on the films on their own terms and decide whether they can be appreciated and enjoyed by 21st Century Westerners. The answer is a resounding, “так!”

The following films are discussed:

• Chasing Two Hares (1961)
Za dvoma zaytsiamy
Directed by Viktor Ivanov
Starring Oleg Borisov, Margarita Krinitsyna, Nikolay Yakovchenko

• Song of the Forest (1961)
Lisova pisnya
Directed by Viktor Ivchenko
Starring Raisa Nedashkovskaya, Volodymyr Sydorchuk, Pyotr Vesklyarov

• The Enchanted Desna (1964)
Zacharovannaya Desna
Directed by Yuliya Solntseva
Starring Evgeniy Samoylov, Vladimir Goncharov, Evgeniy Bondarenko

• The Stone Cross (1968)
Kaminnyy khrest
Directed by Leonid Osyka
Starring Borislav Brondukov, Daniil Ilchenko, Yekaterina Mateyk

• Conscience (1968)
Sovist
Directed by Vladimir Denisenko
Starring Anatoliy Sokolovskiy, Viktor Malyarevich, Nikolay Oleynik

• Annychka (1969)
Directed by Boris Ivchenko
Starring Lyubov Rumyantseva, Ivan Mikolaychuk, Grigore Grigoriu