For the 90th anniversary of Yurii Illienko: the Mykolaichuk OPEN film festival and the Ivan Mykolaichuk Cultural and Artistic Center will present a large-scale retrospective of the outstanding cinematographer

Within the framework of the retrospective, the first painting exhibition of Yurii Illienko in 25 years, screenings of his iconic film works, lectures, and a special event dedicated to the friendship between Yurii Illienko and Ivan Mykolaichuk will take place.

The Mykolaichuk OPEN Film Festival and the “Ivan Mykolaichuk Cultural and Artistic Center,” together with the family of Yurii Illienko, present a large-scale retrospective for the 90th anniversary of the outstanding director and cinematographer. Illienko is known for his cinematography work on “Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors” and for directing the poetic cinema masterpiece “White Bird with a Black Mark” and the controversial epic “A Prayer for Hetman Mazepa,” which is currently banned from screening in Ukraine. The retrospective “Yurii Illienko: 90 Years Against All Odds” will reveal the creator from another, lesser-known side: as a masterful painter and an author of art-house genre cinema.

From April 27 to June 27, the Ivan Mykolaichuk Cultural and Artistic Center (Chernivtsi, Holovna Street, 140) will host an exhibition of paintings by Yurii Illienko and artifacts related to his творчість. This is the first large exhibition of the artist’s works since 1999. In total, more than 20 exhibits that were not previously available to the general public will be presented. Each artifact has its own story, and visitors to the exhibition will be able to learn it.

At the opening of the exhibition, on April 27 at 17:00, an honored guest — Pylyp Illienko, the son of Yurii Illienko — will be present.

“This exhibition is a very significant event for me. My father was and remains an extremely important figure in my life, and I consider it part of my mission to disseminate, popularize, and preserve his creative legacy. My father’s paintings appeared due to the lack of opportunity to shoot films. And there were quite a few pauses, because if you count how many films were made during his lifetime, it turns out it’s not that many. All the exhibits are quite different and can be divided into several categories. Part of the works is related to the family — there are many portraits of my mother, Liudmyla Yefymenko, who was not only a wife but also my father’s creative partner. Separately, one can highlight the religious theme, which appeared in his work sometime in the 1990s. My father had a period of painting icons in different techniques and styles. It began with painting icons on fish, which, unfortunately, for obvious reasons, have survived much worse than canvases or works on wood,” shares producer and head of the State Film Agency of Ukraine in 2014–2019, Pylyp Illienko.

Film screenings within the retrospective will reveal a new facet of Yurii Illienko’s творчість — as a distinctive genre director. The films combine genre canons with the author’s unique poetic vision, which resonates with contemporary trends in world cinema. The program includes four films: “Evening on Ivan Kupala” (folk horror), “A Well for the Thirsty” (film parable), “Forest Song. Mavka” (fantasy), and “Swan Lake. Zone” (prison drama).

“Yurii Illienko is one of the key figures of poetic cinema, on par with Parajanov and Ivan Mykolaichuk. We are attempting to look at his cinematic legacy differently and present it from another angle — an angle that could become a source of tradition for contemporary Ukrainian genre cinema and an approach that is currently in trend. After all, it is precisely auteur genre films that in recent years perform well at the box office and become sensations at the ‘Oscars’ and other awards,” says Mykolaichuk OPEN program director Alex Malyshenko.

Also, within the retrospective, lectures and special events dedicated to the work of Yurii Illienko will take place. One of the events is the presentation of a recorded conversation between Yurii Illienko and Serhii Parajanov, dedicated to the work of Ivan Mykolaichuk. Details will be available on the Mykolaichuk OPEN film festival’s social media pages (Facebook and Instagram).

The exhibition of Yurii Illienko’s paintings will open on April 27 at 17:00 at the Ivan Mykolaichuk Cultural and Artistic Center (Holovna St., 140, Chernivtsi). It will run until June 27 from 11:00 to 19:00 (except Monday and Tuesday). Admission is free.

The Mykolaichuk OPEN audience film festival will take place from June 13 to 20 in the city of Chernivtsi with the support of the Chernivtsi City Council and the Ivan Mykolaichuk Cultural and Artistic Center.

General partner of the industry section: AMO Pictures

With the support of: Chernivtsi City Council, Chernivtsi Military Administration, State Film Agency of Ukraine, Ivan Mykolaichuk Cultural and Artistic Center, Bukovyna Film Commission

General media partner: 1+1 media

Information partner of the festival: Suspilne Broadcasting (Suspilne Culture, Radio Culture and Suspilne Chernivtsi)

Media partners: Media Holding C4, UP Culture, Village, Kyivstar TV, Shpalta, Radio 10, Media Agency ACC, Bukovynska Khvylia 100.0 FMA, Chornyi Lotos

Partners: [Ne] Khustka, Divergent Agency, Bacara Coffee

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