Thaw in June
The Open Night Festival is not one to bask in jubilee eulogies. It is only five years old, the format is too immature, and it is meant to promote new Kyiv movie makers. It does not even claim epochal impact or quantitative expansion, being content with its originally chosen form: one summer night saturated with movies shown on a small screen for a small yet dedicated audience, marking shivering triumphs at dawn. In fact, the Open Night is generally regarded as a counterpoint to the overall stagnation of domestic cinematography.
This time the festival proved very special in that it marked a sudden powerful thrust over and above the current stereotype. In other words, it has become richer in all respects, including its qualitative entourage and opening ceremony, Ukrainian-Polish-French jury, and other signs of well-being, meaning that prosperous and influential people have appeared among the festival’s friends. But contents comes first, of course, and here one sees fresh hope.
To say that an equally severe competition took place in all nominations would be an overstatement. For one thing, professional animated cartoonists kept a lamentably low profile; their works were obviously inferior to students like Oleksandr Cherkasky and his one- minute “After Daniel Harms’ Stories,” which was awarded well- deserved laurels. The “parallel cinema” turned out quite well represented, compared to previous years, displaying a welcome versatility of style and talent — e.g., the impressionistic etude “Presence,” “Fisherman’s Dream” with a definite touch of avant-garde insanity, and the black and white “A Bird Has Flown Back” — winning the audience craving for experimentation. Olha Smolenska’s “Presence” won first prize, along with a special composer award (Volodymyr Huba). This production is indeed a good sample of video art, vividly conveying the presence of something different, the idea, deity, and human being. Nadiya Koshman’s “Fisherman’s Dream” turned out bitingly attractive in its own way. She was both the scriptwriter and director, and seemed content with her award for best art direction. Television features were traditionally predominant in the non- feature film division. Here chernozem elegies obviously prevailed over creative search. As was to be expected, the thirty minute “From the Life of a Country Named Fatherland” won with its ever-acute Chornobyl topic, and the fact did not deprive the author, Viktoriya Melnykova, of her gift of eloquence.
Real hostilities broke out between the contestants — and members of the jury, of course — in the key nomination, student feature films. And well they should. For the first time in a number of years a film festival boasted several productions made in a vividly unconventional and gifted manner — most importantly, all done at Kyiv’s Cinematography Department over the past two years. They appear to be the first signs of thaw in the hopeless icy condition of domestic filmmaking. Taras Tomenko’s “Shooting Gallery” (commended at the latest film festival in Berlin) is a simple yet horrifying story about a homeless boy, and it was challenged by Olena Ursaki’s “Little Devil,” a miniature family saga with a good plot, excellent cast, and remarkably true-to- life performances. Vira Yakovenko’s “Sleeping Beauty,” just like Kostiantyn Denysiuk’s “Specter,” marked an altogether creative trait with the emphasis on funny or fantastic bends in the plot while traditionally upholding the universally accepted cinema language. Finally, there was Yevhen Matviyenko’s “Toy,” standing somewhat aloof with its tough plot and grim humor complemented by an uncompromising moral stand.
Serhiy Masloboishchykov, head of the jury, film director and artist, admits that passing the final judgment was extremely difficult. As it happened, the Open Night Areopagus was split into those supporting literary and biting approaches (the latter verging on burlesque) to the plot, also those keen on solid footage akin to the author’s quest. Finally, a middle course was set. “Sleeping Beauty” was proclaimed the best motion picture; Taras Tomenko with his “Shooting Gallery” was named the best film director, and Vadym Revun (“Mara”) won the best cameraman prize. “Toy” triumphed in the video film nomination and its director Yevhen Matviyenko was named the best director in the field. Two boys, Filya Dobriansky (“The Shooting Gallery”) and Serhiy Ursaki (“Little Devil”), and Tetiana Burla (Ibid.) were named the best actors. Taras Tomenko won the Grand Prix (called the “Special Award of the Jury”), $1,500 worth of Kodak film, and no one objected, for the winner truly deserved it.
The Open Night’s results will be weighed and commented upon, of course. Without doubt, the main result is the triumphant aftertaste. The fifth festival vividly marked the entrance into the domestic filmmaking community of a group of very different and gifted film directors, actors, and cameramen — those capable of reviving the meaning and glory of the Ukrainian Cinema, a notion that has all but sunk into oblivion.
