Presentation of modern Ukrainian cinema at Filmarchiv Austria
The film program of the Ukrainian Institute and FilmarchivAustria, which took place in May 2022 in Vienna, presented 16 Ukrainian films and discussions with the audience together with the participation of the films’ authors.
Goal of the project
— popularisation of Ukrainian cinema and culture abroad, establishing international institutional cooperation between Ukraine and Austria in the field of cinematography, providing context about Ukrainian realities within the cinema language.
“Long before the full-scale Russian invasion, the Ukrainian Institute and the Austrian Film Archive were planning a common project. Now, when our sovereign, peaceful country has been subjected to a brutal and unjustified attack, we are especially grateful for the support of our partners who provide a platform for Ukrainian films and their creators. We are glad that viewers of the Metro Kinokulturhaus have an opportunity to get to know different regions of Ukraine and their citizens through 16 films. Filmed by Ukrainian and foreign directors, they tell thrilling stories about universal topics: from growing up and making dreams to finding a way home come true, starting life and creating art. This will allow the foreign viewer to understand Ukraine better”,
— notes Nataliya Movshovych, Head of the “Cinema department” of the Ukrainian Institute.
Programme
The program includes Ukrainian films awarded at the many international film festivals, including “Atlantis” (Valentyn Vasyanovych, 2019), “Stop-Earth” (Kateryna Gornostay, 2021), “This Rain Will Never End” (Alina Horlova, 2020), “The Tribe” (Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi, 2014 ), “The Earth is Blue, Like an Orange” (Iryna Tsylyk, 2020), as well as co-productions and films authored by international directors, which form a more comprehensive perception of Ukraine by the Austrian audience.
After the screening, a discussion about the films with their creators was held both on site and online.
The curator of the program was Florian Wiedegger, the program director of the film archive.
About Filmarchiv Austria
Filmarchiv Austria is Austriain main institution for the preservation and presentation of audiovisual heritage. The Austrian Film Archive owns 200,000 films, 2,000,000 photographs and film frames, 50,000 film programs, 16,000 film posters and more than 40,000 books and magazines. In three main locations – the Laxenburg Film Archive, the Augarten Audiovisual Center and the METRO Kinokulturhaus – the FAA carries out a variety of tasks in order to preserve, document, transfer and present the cinematic heritage.