KINOFEST NYC 2010

Kinofest NYC – an inaugural film festival that celebrates independent cinema from Ukraine and other post-Soviet bloc countries. The festival is a new voice in the New York cinema community that features films and filmmakers emerging from the memory of the Iron Curtain. Opening night guests include Jonas Mekas, founder of Anthology Film Archives, who will present his autobiographical film Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania, and Annette Michelson, Prof. Emeritus of NYU Cinema Studies. The four-day, 6-session event will include feature documentaries, shorts and animations with presentations by filmmakers and guest speakers. All films are in English or contain English subtitles.

Feb 25 to 28, 2010 (opening night reception)

Screenings: Thurs 7pm, Fri 7pm, Sat 5pm & 8pm, Sun 2pm & 5pm

$10 admission ($8 advance purchase), $24 festival pass

Tickets: www.kinofestNYC.com or www.ukrainianmuseum.org

The Ukrainian Museum

222 East 6th Street (bet. 2nd and 3rd Aves.), New York, NY 10003, 212-228-0110

Subway: 6 to Astor Pl., R to 8th St.

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

Thursday, February 25, 7pm
Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania (Jonas Mekas, 1971, 88min, 16mm)

Friday, February 26, 7pm
The Fourth Wave (Viktoria Melnykova 2008, 80min, Ukrainian w/English subtitles)

Saturday, February 27, 5pm

Short Films by Young Ukrainian Filmmakers

Saturday, February 27, 8pm

Power Trip (Paul Devlin, 2003, 85 min, Georgian w/English subtitles)

Sunday, February 28, 2pm

solidarity. (Joan Schimke and Eva Nagorski, 2005, 21min)

A Lesson of Belorusian (Mirosław Dembiński, 2006, 55min, Belarusian w/English subtitles)

Sunday, February 28, 5pm

Pictograph (Mišo & Lida Suchý, 2007, 21min, Ukrainian w/Eng subtitles)

I Am a Monument to Myself (Dmytro Tiazhlov, 2009, 55min, Ukrainian w/English subtitles)

A Parched Land (Taras Tomenko 2004, 25min, no dialogue)

Film Summaries:

Thursday, February 25, 7pm
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 and Annette Michelson of NYU Cinema Studies.

Friday, February 26, 7pm
Viktoria 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 Prof. Yuri Shevchuk,founder of the Ukrainian Film Club of Columbia University

Saturday, February 27, 5pm

Short Films 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 live-action shorts that highlight talent of emerging young Ukrainian filmmakers, including Slava Feofilaktov, Anatoliy Lavrenishyn, Alexandra Ilmenska, Serhiy Kotok, Oleh Tsurikov, Maryna Vroda, Valentyn Vasyanovych and Olexandra Khrebtova.

Saturday, February 27, 8pm

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, 2pm

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.

Mirosław Dembiński’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 Lukashenko, forcing its students 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, 5pm

Mišo & Lida Suchý’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 of 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 Prof. Alexander Motyl of Rutgers University, followed by a closing night drinks reception.