Ukrainian Documentary Cinema of the 1980s–1990s: A Programme of Short Films
On November 21 at 18:30, Jam Factory Art Center will screen a selection of digitised documentary shorts from the Dovzhenko Centre’s collection.
These five films explore some of the most difficult and painful subjects of the late 1980s and the 1990s: the war in Afghanistan, the Chornobyl disaster, the deportation of the Crimean Tatars, loneliness, and artistic freedom. Through personal stories, they portray a society beginning to speak openly about what had been silenced and to demand its right to the truth.
Programme
Early on Sunday… (1987)
Director: Murad Mamedov
Languages: Ukrainian, Russian
A collective portrait of women gathering firewood. Hard work feels less daunting in good company, amid conversations about life, death, loneliness, and men, as well as criticism of “glasnost” seasoned with folk humour.
The Wound (1988)
Director: Murad Mamedov
Runtime: 17 minutes
Languages: Ukrainian, Russian
Wounded and exhausted soldiers return home from Afghanistan. There is neither pomp nor joy in their homecoming. The men and their mothers struggle to understand the reasons for the bloody war and the high price they have paid. The force of personal tragedy overcomes their fear of a system intent on keeping it silent.
The Right to Truth (1989)
Director: Heorhii Shkliarevskyi
Runtime: 10 minutes
Languages: Ukrainian, Russian
Kyiv, April 26, 1989. A rally marking the anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster takes place at Dynamo Stadium. The stands are full, and the scoreboard reads: “Chornobyl, Prypiat, a warning.” Emboldened by Chornobyl and “glasnost,” people take to the streets in search of the truth.
Serhii Parajanov. A Visit (1994)
Director: Anatolii Syrykh
Languages: Ukrainian, Russian
In November 1988, Anatolii Syrykh met Serhii Parajanov in Tbilisi to make a documentary portrait of him. Parajanov, however, was not inclined to discuss his art. Syrykh suggested talking about the artist and his times instead — only for Parajanov to reply that he had coughed up blood that morning.
The Past?.. (1995)
Director: Rafail Nakhmanovych
Runtime: 31 minutes
Languages: Ukrainian, Crimean Tatar, Russian
The film follows the lives of Crimean Tatars who returned to their homeland half a century after their forced deportation by Stalin’s regime on May 18, 1944. At its heart is an interview with Crimean Tatar activist Besibe Aksakova. She shares her experience of exile and reflects on the paradox of being labelled both a “war heroine” and an “enemy of the people.”
The screening is part of “The History of Cinema in Ukraine” programme, presented in collaboration with the Dovzhenko Centre.
Earlier that day, at 16:00, Aliona Penzii will give a lecture titled “The History of Cinema in Ukraine: Documentary Cinema of the 1980s–1990s.”
📅 November 21 | 18:30
📍 Jam Factory Art Center, Auditorium
124 B. Khmelnytskoho St., Lviv
🎟 Admission is free with advance registration