Free lectures and screenings of 12 films made in Ukraine from the 1920s to the 2000s. Curated by Daria Badior and Sofiia Doroshenko.
Ukrainian cinema experienced at least three major periods of creative flourishing in the 20th century: the 1920s, the 1960s, and the 1990s. But what happened in between these decades? What preceded the emergence of the cinematic avant-garde and Ukrainian poetic cinema, and what came after? What were the contexts in which landmark films by Ukrainian filmmakers were created?
A History of Cinema in Ukraine is a programme of film screenings and lectures that offers a journey through nearly a century of cinema in Ukraine — from the experiments of the 1920s to the transformations and explorations of Ukrainian cinema at the beginning of the 21st century.
The programme features 12 films, ranging from works that remain relatively unknown today to familiar classics that are worth rediscovering in a new context. Instead of canonical works such as Earth or Enthusiasm: The Symphony of Donbas, we will turn to films including Mykola Shpykovskyi’s The Self-Seeker and Mykhailo Kaufman’s In Spring. We will also screen Viktor Ivanov’s Chasing Two Hares and explore aspects of the film that often remain outside its familiar reception.
A special event in the programme will be the screening of Hryhorii Hrycher’s The Crystal Palace, one of the early sound films made in Ukraine. The programme will also include works of Ukrainian poetic cinema and documentaries from the 2000s.
Each thematic block will be accompanied by lectures and conversations with film scholars and experts. Together, we will discuss the people, movements, and politics that shaped the development of cinema, the conditions in which films were made, and the ways they were received in different periods.
The programme aims to provide a broader context for the processes whose results we see on screen today and to uncover lesser-known chapters in the history of cinema in Ukraine.
The programme is developed in cooperation with the Dovzhenko Centre and with the participation of Ukrainian film scholars and researchers.
First Programme Block
9 September, 18:30
Programme opening and screening of The Self-Seeker (Shkurnyk, 1929)
Directed by Mykola Shpykovskyi
12 September, 16:00
Lecture by Stanislav Menzelevskyi on Ukrainian cinema of the 1920s
Online + offline
12 September, 18:30
Screening of In Spring (Navesni, 1929)
Directed by Mykhailo Kaufman
16 September, 18:30
Screening of Chasing Two Hares (Za dvoma zaitsiamy, 1961)
Directed by Viktor Ivanov
19 September, 16:00
Lecture by Ivan Kozlenko on Ukrainian cinema of the 1930s
Online + offline
19 September, 18:30
Screening of The Crystal Palace (Kryshtalevyi palats, 1934)
Directed by Hryhorii Hrycher
23 September, 18:30
Screening of The Little Orchestra (Malenkyi orkestr, 1968)
Directed by Oleksandr Muratov and Mykola Rasheiev
Details
When: September–November 2026
First programme block: 9–23 September
Second programme block: November
Events take place: Wednesdays and Saturdays
Admission to all events is free with advance registration. Separate registration is required for each film screening and lecture.
Registration details and the schedule for the second programme block will be announced soon.