Lecture by Ivan Kozlenko: Ukrainian Film Expressionism of the 1930s: The Proletarian Body in Search of Socialist Realism
The lecture focuses on one of the least researched periods in the history of Ukrainian cinema—the 1930s, when filmmaking found itself caught between avant-garde experimentation and the establishment of socialist realism.
About the Lecture
The curtailment of cultural autonomy, the dissolution of VUFKU, the arrival of sound, the Holodomor, and a fundamental shift in the cultural paradigm made the 1930s one of the most dramatic periods in the development of Ukrainian cinema.
Despite political repression and the officially imposed course towards socialist realism, Ukrainian filmmakers managed to develop a distinctive national style that combined the experience of the avant-garde with local painting traditions.
The lecture will explore how Ukrainian cinema searched for a new visual language and portrayed the human figure amid radical social change.
About the Lecturer
Ivan Kozlenko is a film scholar, curator, and cultural manager. He is the founder and artistic director of the silent film and contemporary music festival Nimi Nochi. From 2014 to 2021, he served as Director General of the Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Centre.
He led the national programme that restored more than 70 Ukrainian films and reintroduced them to international audiences. He has curated international retrospectives of Ukrainian cinema and co-authored specialist publications on Ukrainian film and art.
The lecture is part of The History of Cinema in Ukraine programme, curated by Daria Badior and Sofia Doroshenko.
Lecture Details
📅 19 September, 16:00
📍 Jam Factory Art Center, Auditorium
🎟️ Free admission with advance registration
Format: Online and in person