As many as three new Ukrainian movies will be released at the start of 2016. They are Anatolii Mateshko’s film Captivity, which was first shown at the Cannes Film Market, made appearance at the Odesa Film Festival then, and will be released on February 4, 2016; Serhii Storozhev’s romantic comedy A Better Match, which will hit the cinemas in early March; and Liubomyr Levytsky’s youth comedy Selfie Party, set for release in March or April. Canadian actor of Ukrainian descent Istan Rozumny starred in all three films.
Rozumny’s personal story is incredibly interesting. His father was born in the village of Honcharivka, Ternopil region. After World War Two, he emigrated to Canada, where he met Oksana, a Canadian of Ukrainian descent. Rozumny himself was born in Winnipeg and learned Ukrainian language, culture, and history from childhood. Trained as film director at the University of Manitoba in Canada and having learned thoroughly not only English, but French as well, he worked in a variety of positions in the Canadian film industry, including assistant director, director, cameraman, producer, and music video director... He was involved with several large-scale TV projects and even made a video with world famous Canadian pop diva Celine Dion singing “Sous Le Vent.” “It was an unreal experience – to work with such a famous pop diva. I had never experienced that much responsibility and stress before. In the end, we all were satisfied with the result, though,” Rozumny recalled.
However, Rozumny then moved to Ukraine, leaving a familiar life (job, relationships, family) behind, and starred in as many as three Ukrainian feature films throughout this year.
He maintains that our film industry is in a state of revival. Nonetheless, before it would be able to impress the world with large-scale systemic art “explosions,” it must first go through a state of “shock therapy”; in other words, it must undergo a complex of radical economic reforms aimed at treating the sector’s economics and creating new “rules of the game.” We talked to Rozumny about what should the viewer expect from new Ukrainian films, whether the national cinema can be seen as globally competitive, and why had the actor made Ukraine his life choice.
“Since I was a child, my parents taught me to speak only Ukrainian,” the actor told us. “It was when I started playing outside, at the age of three or four that I began to hear and learn English. My parents are conscious patriots of Ukraine. My father headed the Slavic Department at the University of Manitoba in Canada. I recall my father inviting Ukrainian dissidents to Canada when I was very young; he often organized meetings with students at the university for them, where they talked about Ukraine and its struggle for independence. By the way, we spoke only Ukrainian at home.”
How come you decided to move to Ukraine?
“I visited Ukraine for the first time when I was six. All I remember from this visit are chickens in the village of Honcharivka. We had an important occasion for visit then, as my grandparents celebrated the 50th anniversary of their wedding. I was struck by the incredible nature of Ukraine, sincerity and openness of its people. Later on, I came for a short while in 2002. In 2004, I arrived consciously to participate in the Orange Revolution... You know, I worked in Canada, everything was cool there... But something pulled me here, to Ukraine. During the revolution of 2004, the feeling was that the society was reviving, I saw incredibly good prospects here. I stood in Maidan and thought that one should live in the homeland of their ancestors. From 2004 to 2006, I worked as cameraman for a documentary series about World War Two in Ukraine. Actually, it was after this work that I decided to settle here for good. I spent recent years in Ukraine, working as a director and producer. I never thought of acting as a career, but friends once asked me to come to a casting, claiming that I looked every bit a foreign intellectual. To be honest, I did not want to go with it, and had been rejecting it for a long time. But my colleagues found persuasive arguments, and I starred in a music video, then ads and series... And it all went on from there.”
You starred in as many as three Ukrainian films this year...
“Yes, and this experience is, in fact, the basis of my confidence that the Ukrainian cinema has incredible prospects ahead. I starred in the film Captivity, whose plot unfolds in the anti-terrorist operation area. I played an American musician who was captured. The idea is very interesting. It really is alive and requires creative thinking. Other my films are comedies. Despite the situation in the country, we can and should look for optimism, including through the psychological relief, particularly that created by optimistic and funny cinema productions.
“I am impressed that all these movies are not just Ukrainian by theoretical definition. No, they are truly typical products of the land, with Ukrainian actors, directors, screenwriters, locations, and language (two of the three are in Ukrainian). This once again proves that Ukraine has everything for a growing film industry, from locations (seas, rivers, forests, mountains, and even a small desert...) to the creative forces (talented directors, screenwriters, and actors).
“I watch many foreign films, take part in various festivals. And always, when talking with colleagues from Europe, America, Canada, I catch myself thinking: the world is subconsciously waiting for a breakthrough of the Ukrainian cinema. And it will happen. While working in Ukraine, I have met an incredible number of film enthusiasts. They are full of great ideas and plans. They crowd fund by literally a penny at a time to implement it. However, over the years of decline, the Ukrainian national cinema has been a bit... ‘put to sleep.’ It is waking up now. I am not going to Hollywood, because I believe that Hollywood will come to Ukraine. Maybe it sounds too optimistic, but I am sure that the Ukrainian cinema will very soon surprise the world and especially Ukrainians themselves.”
What stops it from doing so at the moment?
“The state should provide more support to the film industry. I often hear in Ukraine that the government owes nothing to anyone, including cinema. But it is not so. All nations support the development of national cinema. Only large markets such as Hollywood do not receive subsidies. The national film gets support in France, Germany, Hungary, Canada... Ukrainian films obviously get less support. The point is not just that the filmmakers again ask for public money. They ask for civilized rules, which would stabilize the situation on the market and make quality filmmaking profitable, since at the moment, even well-known directors and producers often ask the state to implement their projects. But it should not be this way. Yes, there are some positive developments. The State Cinema Agency is visibly trying to make a difference. Most importantly, we need to see the government supporting these initiatives at all stages.
“I have also launched a project myself, where I will be producer, director, and screenwriter at once. The working title is Narkis, which is the name of the female protagonist, but also a Scythian word meaning a drug. The film is not about drugs, of course. This will be a spy thriller set during the Cold War era. I plan to shoot it in Ukraine, although the events of the plot are taking place in five countries.”
