Lecture by Anna Onufriienko: “The History of Cinema in Ukraine: The 1980s. Kira Muratova”
On November 14 at 16:00, Jam Factory Art Center will host a lecture by cultural studies scholar and film researcher Anna Onufriienko, exploring Kira Muratova’s work and the transformations in Ukrainian cinema at the turn of an era.
About the Lecture
Kira Muratova developed an innovative cinematic language of her own, marked by absurdist irony, an attentiveness to the diversity and fragility of her characters’ inner worlds, and a deeply analytical engagement with reality. Her films combine documentary qualities with imaginative aesthetic reinterpretation and an almost anarchic freedom in handling their material.
For nearly half a century, Muratova worked at the Odesa Film Studio, where she made almost all her films. During the Soviet era, however, her work rarely reached audiences. Perestroika marked a turning point: she gained the freedom to make the films she wanted, while her early works — Brief Encounters (1967) and The Long Farewell (1971) — returned to screens.
This period also saw the release of The Asthenic Syndrome (1989), her most experimental film, which won a Silver Bear at the Berlinale. The lecture will explore this work alongside A Change of Fate (1987) and The Sentimental Policeman (1992), examining how they reflected transformations in society and cinema before and after Ukraine gained independence.
Registration
About the Speaker
Anna Onufriienko is a cultural studies scholar, a film researcher at the Dovzhenko Centre from 2014 to 2022, and a programme coordinator for retrospective film programmes.
She co-curated the exhibitions VUFKU. Lost & Found and To Scream, to Call, to Burn! Ukrainian Film Advertising of the 1920s–1930s, and co-directed Atomograd. Assembling Utopia (2016) and Intervision-Lviv (2018). She co-edited the books A Cinematic Revision of Donbas (2015, 2018) and VUFKU. Lost & Found (2019), as well as the DVD collection Chornobyl [In]Visible (2017).
In 2026, she won a competition for research projects on Kira Muratova’s legacy, organised by the Ukrainian Institute, the Dovzhenko Centre, and the Believe in Yourself Foundation. She is currently compiling a collection of articles and archival materials on Muratova’s work.
She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in cultural studies from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in the history of European culture and ideas at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany. Her research interests include Ukrainian Soviet and contemporary cinema, visual propaganda, the history of technology, and its representation in media.
The lecture is part of “The History of Cinema in Ukraine” programme.
📅 November 14 | 16:00
📍 Jam Factory Art Center, Auditorium
124 B. Khmelnytskoho St., Lviv
🎟 Admission is free with advance registration