11–14.12.2008
New Ukrainian Cinema at the Mykolaiky Folkowi festival in Poland

The international folk song festival Mykolaiky Folkowi, started off some 20 years ago by the St. Nikolas Orchestra, attended by group from many countries, which play diverse, some time rather unexpected versions of the folk songs. In parallel to ethno-groups shows, the program of the festival also includes exhibitions, master-classes and film presentations.

This year ArtPole agency presented the best of Ukrainian documentalists and animators whose work is relevant to the topic of the festival. All in all — six hours of reproduced at the big screen rituals, trades, songs and fairytales from fifteen authors. They are different, just as their films are. For instance, one of the works by Chervony Sobaka (Red Dog) animation studio entitled Z Novym Rokom (Happy New Year) was created by youngest animators, with the ages starting from 4 years old. In this studio the children themselves create scenarios for their work and in game-like process learn to operate different animation techniques using different materials. Conversely, a film “Usmiech na ustach a w oczach lzy” that tells the story of Ukrainian group Perkalaba, has been made by a professional film group by the request of Polish TV. Yet, the film is far from the standard “made to order”, it’s sincere and even affectionately painful at times. Ukrainian musicians and Polish film-makers together travelled to lost in the mountains village Perkalaba, which gave the name to the group, visited the local healer, photographer who has not a single own picture, and a real asylum...