Ukrainian myth film Moraine will premiere at Mykolaichuk OPEN

The horror film with elements of eroticism Moraine, directed by Serhiy Alyoshechkin, will be included in the non-competition programme of the third Mykolaichuk OPEN. The film was completed in 2018. It will be screened for the first time in Chernivtsi in June 2024.  

In the story, a couple in love, Hanna and Yurko, come to visit the girl's parents in a small village in the summer. A young witch, Ivanka, nicknamed Morena by the villagers, sets her sights on Yurko on the night of Ivan Kupala and puts him in danger. Through her magic, the witch forces Hanna to tie herself to Ivanka in a mystical bond for the sake of her lover's life. This is the beginning of a series of mysterious murders and transformations that the young lovers will have to face.

"Last year, we screened a black trash comedy called September at Mykolaychuk OPEN. It was a film that was legendary and not everyone believed that it really existed. "The Moraine is an equally legendary film. It combines a horror film with violent eroticism, a mysterious plot and a mysterious story of a sudden multi-year pause between the end of filming and release. We are lucky to be the first to screen this film, which claims to occupy a special place in the history of Ukrainian horror films," said the festival's programme director Alex Malyshenko. 

Taisiia-Oksana Shchuruk, known for the TV series The First Swallows, played the main role of Hanna. Her co-stars were Iryna Hromadska, for whom the role of the witch was her feature film debut, Vasyl Basha (The Guide), Ilya Valyansky, Vitaliy Azhnov (And There Will Be People) and Oleksandr Melnyk (Cyborgs).

The film was directed, scripted and shot by Sergei Alyoshechkin, who is known for his TV projects, which he has been shooting for 20 years. The film was filmed in the Carpathians, as well as in Bukovyna in the village of Ispas and Kyiv region. 

The film was distributed in Ukraine by FILM.UA Distribution. The Ukrainian premiere of Moraine will take place at Mykolaichuk OPEN, and the film will be released in theatres in autumn 2024. The film was produced by Ganzafilm with the support of the Ukrainian State Film Agency.

Earlier, the Mykolaichuk OPEN festival announced the first international and Ukrainian films from the third edition programme. The new science fiction section Under the Constellation of the Twins will be opened by Steven Soderbergh's Divinity. On the occasion of Ivan Mykolaychuk's birthday, there will be screenings of the newly scanned film I'm Coming to You and the legendary Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors with the festival's muse Larysa Kadochnikova. Mykolaichuk OPEN will also feature the Ukrainian festival premiere of the Oscar-winning documentary by Steve McQueen, Occupied City. 

The Mykolaychuk OPEN festival will take place from 15 to 23 June with the support of the Chernivtsi City Council.

Partners - Divergent Agency, Dovzhenko Film Studio, FILM.UA Distribution.

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