aaus-list @ ukrainianstudies.org -- [aaus-list] Kinofest NYC film festival

[ajmotyl@andromeda.rutgers.edu]

KINOFEST NYC FILM FESTIVAL

Please join us for the inaugural Kinofest NYC film festival at The
Ukrainian Museum, from Thursday, February 25th to Sunday, February 28th.

Kinofest NYC celebrates the best in emerging cinema from Ukraine and other
post-Soviet bloc countries, and brings New Yorkers an intriguing look at
independent film and filmmakers emerging from the memory of the Iron
Curtain.

Thursday, February 25, 7 p.m.
Jonas Mekas’ *Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania*- An autobiographical
and highly personal film that chronicles Mekas’ first trip back to
Semeniskiai, Lithuania, the village where he was raised, after an absence
of 25 years. A moving film dedicated 'to all the displaced people in the
world.’

Opening night reception: meet the director Jonas Mekas, founder of
Anthology Film Archives.


Friday, February 26, 7 p.m.
Victoria Melnykova’s *The Fourth Wave*- A film that focuses on the story of
a frustrated composer who is not able to develop a fulfilling musical
career in an independent Ukraine and emigrates to Italy to pursue his
creative interests. The musician is just one of tens of thousands of
highly educated Ukrainians who over the last two decades have chosen to
leave that which is familiar in search of a happier and more prosperous
life in the West.

Film introduction and Q&A led by Dr. Yuri Shevchuk, founder of the
Ukrainian Film Club of Columbia University.


Saturday, February 27, 5 p.m.

Animations and Film Shorts by Young Ukrainian Filmmakers:* Guest presenter
Bohdana Smyrnova, graduate of Kyiv's Karpenko-Kary film school and a
student at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, introduces animations and film
shorts that highlight talent of emerging young Ukrainian filmmakers.


Saturday, February 27, 8 p.m.

Paul Devlin’s *Power Trip* is a feature documentary about independent
Georgia’s struggle for energy independence. The film highlights the dilemma
faced by many energy-poor former Soviet republics that increasingly find
themselves caught between the dynamics of a free market energy system and
dependence on energy supplied by their eastern neighbor.

Film introduction and Q&A led by guest presenter and filmmaker Paul Devlin.


Sunday, February 28, 2 p.m.

Joan Schimke’s and Eva Nagorski’s *solidarity.* is set in 1982 communist
Poland during the time of rule by marshal law.  During the get together of
good friends, a simple accident creates an unexpected turn of events, and
in a matter of minutes, life-long friendships are destroyed.

Meet Eva Nagorski at the Q&A.

Miroslav Dembinski’s *A Lesson of Belorusian* focuses on supporters of a
local Lyceum in Minsk, which in 1995 is labeled a banned educational
institution by President Lukashenka, forcing its student to continue their
studies behind closed doors. The 2006 Presidential elections becomes the
culminating point of the film, during which Belarusians struggle for their
right to be heard.


Sunday, February 28, 5 p.m.

Miso & Lida Suchy’s *Pictograph* features color folk drawings and black &
white photography stills are animated to create a tapestry that weaves
together vignettes of life in the village Kryvorivnya in the Carpathian
Mountains of Ukraine.

*I Am a Monument to Myself*- Meet Mr. Hvatov, an eccentric gentleman who
performs an important social mission in his community: he brings attention
to memory and reconciliation by creating memorials that mark the lives of
people and soldiers who have found their final resting place in his west
Ukrainian town.  Directed by: Dmytro Tiazhlov

*A Parched Land-* A man discovers an angel in the desert, brings him home
and locks him up, but soon realizes the economic benefits of his treasure.
Directed by Taras Tomenko.

Film introduction and Q&A led by Alexander Motyl.

Closing night drinks reception to follow.


Single admission: $10.

Festival Pass: $25 (good for all screenings, except opening night).


For more info, please visit www.kinofestNYC.com<http://www.kinofestnyc.com/>
or contact 212.228.0110 or email info@ukrainianmuseum.org.

Purchase tickets online (After Feb 1):

www.ukrainianmuseum.org

The Ukrainian Museum
222 East Sixth Street
(between 2nd & 3rd Avenues)
New York, New York 10003



The Ukrainian Museum's film series and programs are funded in part by the
New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.