Celebrating the incredible cinema coming out of Kyiv and beyond.
Returning for its fifth year in Geelong, the 2021 Ukrainian Film Festival is making its way to The Pivotonian, Geelong’s only boutique arthouse cinema, this week.
Running for 10 days, the festival will showcase a number of newly released Ukrainian films, all coming from a wide range of genres.
Titles of notable mention include opening film My Thoughts Are Silent which follows a son and his mother on a road trip, and benefits from some well-distributed deadpan humour, colourful locations and steady camerawork representing a breath of fresh air for Ukrainian cinema; The Wild Fields, an adaptation of famous novel Voroshilovgrad that stands as Ukrainian filmmaker Yaroslav Lodygin’s ambitious first feature; and A Family an unexpected Australian movie filmed in Ukraine. A wonderfully absurdist comedy, A Family is the story of Emerson, a man living in lonely isolation who seeks emotional refuge in the organising and documenting of family moments using low-grade impersonators. But when his fake sister becomes inspired to follow his method, their relationship struggles between the forged and the genuine. As part of the festival, there will be a very special Q&A with director Jayden Stevens on Saturday, July 11.
Other films also include The Projectionist, a documentary about cinema, the human condition and death; Bad Roads where four short stories are set along the roads of Donbass during the war; and War Mothers 2, a documentary of three Ukrainian women who have decided not to settle for the tragedy being dealt to themselves, to their country, and their people. The festival will also feature Australian director Stefan Bugryn of War Mothers 2 who will speak about the documentary project, his experiences filming, and the importance of sharing Ukrainian stories around the world on Saturday, July 17.
To celebrate the opening night, they’ll also have some special varenyky (Ukrainian dumplings) and Ukrainian beers available for purchase.
The festival runs from July 8 – July 18 2021. Festival tickets will be at normal cinema prices and can be purchased online through the cinema website.
The Pivotonian is located at 4 Verner Street, South Geelong.
