Kinosvit is a brand-new film program of feature-length and short films representing both modern and traditional Ukrainian films curated for Winnipeg’s Ukrainian diaspora and the local film community. The series has been programmed by Dmytro Kashuba, a graduate of London Film School, and recent Ukrainian emigree.
Dir. Sergei Parajanov
1965, Ukraine, 97 min
Ukrainian with English subtitles
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors is a boldly conceived and astonishingly photographed blend of enchanting mythology, hypnotic religious iconography, and pagan magic. Although the film’s unsentimental depiction of the harsh realities of Russian regional history forced visionary director Sergei Parajanov (The Color of Pomegranates) into direct conflict with the Soviet film industry, it became an international sensation when it was released in 1965. This milestone film of the Ukrainian poetic cinema movement screened at the 2023 Venice Film Festival as part of the Venice Classics program.
Deep in the Carpathian Mountains of 19th-century Ukraine, love, hate, life, and death among the Hutsul people are as they’ve been since time began. While young Ivan’s mother mourns her husband’s brutal murder, Ivan is drawn to Marichka, the beautiful young daughter of the man who killed his father. But fate tragically decrees that the two lovers will remain apart. Unhappily married to another woman and cursed by a sorcerer in this life, Ivan’s obsession with his lost love lures him ever closer to a reunion with Marichka in death.
Please join us for a post-screening discussion with award-winning Canadian-based filmmaker Milos Mitrovic, and guest programmer Dmytro Kashuba.
“It’s one of the most unusual films I’ve seen, a barrage of images, music and noises, shot with such an active camera we almost need seatbelts.” – Roger Ebert
“(Pararadjanov’s) greatest work… full of visual surprises and fearless leaps in style.” – Edward Guthman, San Francisco Chronicle
Kinosvit is sponsored by Manitoba Film & Music, a statutory corporation dedicated to supporting Manitoba’s film and music industries so that they flourish.
