THE EVE OF IVAN KUPALO 1968

(Вечір на Івана Купала / Vecher nakanune Ivana Kupala)

Directed by Yurii Illienko

71 minutes

In Ukrainian with English subtitles

There was a certain kind of 'folklore poetic' cinema that emerged in the 1960s in the former East Bloc, which Ukrainian filmmakers were a large part of. There was a history for this movement that can be traced all the way back to the 1920s with a lyrical-experimental filmmaker named Dovzhenko who was born in northern Ukraine. But in the 60s movies were suddenly ignited with color... and it was almost as if this folklore-poetic spirit was infused with traditional folklore patterns and designs, resulting in an almost psychedelic trip of mind-blowing tapestry of visual patterns.

The director of this particular movie Yurii Illienko had been a cameraman for one of the greatest practitioners of this aesthetic, whose name was Sergi Paradjanov. Here as a director Illienko takes this overheated fantasy-folklore imagery to tell the story of a young poverty-stricken farmer who wants to marry his true love, but when her father interferes, the young man goes to make a deal with a demon. Everything climaxes and a kind of delirious madness. It's based on “St John’s Eve” by Gogol, a tale that taps into the deep mythology of the region. A cinematic step into another world, both ancient and modern.

SYMBIOPSYCHOTAXICINEMA 

Film starts at 20:30

Free screening   

Dinners are available from 19:00

Presented by Jeffrey Badcock
A series of socially engaged movies, screened once a month on Thursdays. Touching on such hot topics as immigration, homelessness, racism, education, radical gender propositions, the pandemic and gentrification, these films not only explore visionary politics, but are also chosen to stir our imagination and creativity. The essence of cinema is the collective experience, and these screenings are aimed at creating intimate communities again in an increasingly hectic and fragmented world.