A Previously Unavailable Film Based on the Script by Ivan Mykolaychuk Will Be Shown at Mykolaychuk OPEN

The Mykolaychuk OPEN International Audience Film Festival, traditionally supported by 1+1 Media, continues to return Ivan Mykolaychuk’s legacy to the modern viewer. Last year, the festival scanned the film “I’m Coming to You” (1971) from film together with the Dovzhenko Center with the assistance and financial support of the NGO “Vilna Shpalta” and the Ivan Mykolaychuk Cultural and Art Center. From now on, the film can be watched legally on the Dovzhenko Center’s online platform.

This year, Ukrainian viewers will be able to see another work by Ivan Mykolaychuk, which has existed only on film and was unavailable for viewing since 1986. This is the biographical drama “And in the Sounds Memory Will Resound…” by Tymofiy Levchuk (1986), which was scanned especially for the festival by the efforts of Mykolaychuk OPEN, the Dovzhenko Center, and the Ivan Mykolaychuk Cultural and Art Center. The film will premiere on June 15, the birthday of Ivan Mykolaychuk, who wrote the film’s screenplay.

“And in the Sounds Memory Will Resound…” is one of those films starring Ivan Mykolaychuk about which there is almost no information in the public domain, and which, in fact, no one has seen. All because it existed only on film, and therefore it was very difficult to watch. This is unfair, because the film is worth it. Plus, it was created by a team of superstars: the script was written by Ivan Mykolaychuk and the writer-sixties Ivan Drach, in the director’s chair is Tymofiy Levchuk, who shot biopics about Ivan Franko and the Kotsiubynsky family, and in the roles are the star Olga Sumska and Fedir Stryhun, who starred in seven films with Mykolaychuk. We really wanted this film to finally start being talked about and with the help of the Dovzhenko Center and the Ivan Mykolaychuk Cultural and Art Center, we could make our dream come true,” says Alex Malyshenko, program director of Mykolaychuk OPEN, commenting on the choice of the film.

The love of the young Lysenko, the heroine Nastya, was played by Ukrainian actress Olga Sumska. At that time, she was 18 years old. Olga Sumska also became the muse of Mykolaychuk OPEN: for the third time in a row, the festival is honoring a Ukrainian actress who starred in Ivan Mykolaychuk’s film. Olga Sumska shared her thoughts on the importance of screening a film that has not yet been seen online:

“I’m 18. I’m in my third year of theater studies. Representatives of the film group “Roses for the Maestro” came to us for exams — that was the working title of the film “And in the Sounds Memory Will Resound…”. They were looking for a young actress for the role of Mykolaychuk Lysenko’s first love. After the exams, they approached me and invited me to a screen test, which actually didn't happen, because when I met at the O. Dovzhenko Studio with the film's director, Timofey Levchuk, everything was immediately decided. We talked, he looked at me intently with the eyes of a master and said: "This is Nastunya!" And a couple of weeks later I was on the set. When I watch my films from those times, I only now realize that we were making history. It is extremely pleasant that our film about the outstanding Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko has finally been found for the audience," said Olga Sumska.

The film follows Lysenko's life from the beginning of his career to the end of his life. The Ukrainian composer goes for a walk in Kyiv. Along the way, his memory takes him back to the past: first to his childhood, to the village of Hrynky, Kyiv province (now Poltava region); in May 1861, when he was at the funeral of Taras Shevchenko; to a trip to Leipzig; to the time of work on the opera "Taras Bulba"; to the images of Olga O'Connor and Olga Lipska, who gifted him with love, happiness and inspiration.

Thanks to the film "And in the sounds memory will respond..." the theme of this year's edition of the festival was born. Mykolaychuk OPEN will be held under the slogan "A person in the center of history" in a new identity.

"Our design literally revolves around a person, the main character or heroine in the frame. Stories intersect, a whirlwind of events takes place around, but at the center of this intersection there is always a person with his emotions, his personal vision of the world. Graphic elements in the form of rays are a visual metaphor for the focus on a person as the central figure of history. These elements are also associated with cinematic light. We are abandoning the oval shapes that were previously ours, but we are staying with the sunny color palette,” said the identity author Yulia Nagorna.

The festival continues to accept films. Until March 15, Ukrainian short films and international (including Ukrainian films) full-length films can be submitted. All conditions are available on the FilmFreeway platform.

Mykolaychuk OPEN has also opened the sale of season tickets – audience tickets are already on sale.

The audience film festival “Mykolaychuk OPEN” will be held from June 14 to 21, 2025 with the support of the Chernivtsi City Council.

General Industry Partner: AMO Pictures

Partners: SPACE Production, SYNDICATE

General Media Partner: 1+1 Media

Broadcast Partner: Public Broadcasting (Public Culture, Public Chernivtsi, Radio Culture)

Media Partners: Media Holding S4, Kyivstar TV, Shpalta, Chorny Lotos, Radio 10, Media Agency "ACC", Bukovynska Khvylya

Follow the news on our Facebook and Instagram pages and on the festival's website.