(Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka)
Directed by Alexandr Rou
69 minutes
In Russian with English subtitles 

Lately we have been diving into fantasy films from the former Eastern bloc created during the Soviet era. This one is another classic from that fantasy wave, and it's seasonal since it takes place during Christmas. It's a wacky journey based on a Russian-Ukrainian folklore tale by the legendary writer of the otherworldly—Nikolai Gogol. These films are like walking into another reality, or often even like an LSD trip. Conjured up with an old school charm, they are visualized with hand-made decors and effects. For me, magic hammered out by hand shimmers in ways CGI (computer-generated-imagery) will never reach. Back in the 1960s Soviet director Alexandr Rou helped revive a boom in these fantasy films based on haunting folk tales. 
 
Set in the small Ukrainian village of Dikanka on Christmas Eve it focuses on a difficult love story between Oksana and the local blacksmith Vakula, and how the blacksmith is sent on an impossible quest to St. Petersburg by her. It captures the spirit of Ukrainian culture and tradition, and is shot in blazing technicolor, exploding in vivid reds and blues. The narratives in these fantasy films are surreal, and the sets are dreamy. This film was shot together with the local residents of the area, and many of them are playing some of the minor roles. These movies are rarely ever screened here in the West, so this is a rare chance to catch this magical flick that is still deeply loved in the former East bloc.

"I just love that there's a witch woman who steals stars from the sky, hangs out with demons, and sleeps with every man in town and the movie and the characters in it not only have no problem with that but also think she's rad."