The Folk Decorative Art Museum in Kyiv is hosting an exhibit commemorating the 40th anniversary of Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors. The premiere of this legendary film on Sept. 4, 1965, turned into an open protest by the Ukrainian intelligentsia against political repressions. After the screening at Kyiv’s Ukraine Cinema, Ivan Dziuba read out a list of names of those who had been arrested, and Vasyl Stus urged the members of the audience who were opposed to the renewal of repressions to stand.
Over the years this motion picture has won nearly 150 awards, including the Cannes Grand Prix (1966), British Academy of Film and Television Arts prize (1966), and a special award for best camerawork at the Mar del Plata Film Festival (Argentina, 1965).
Liudmyla Serzhant, the museum’s academic secretary, conceived the idea of exhibiting rare footage from the film several years ago, when the Dovzhenko Studios transferred a lectern to her museum.
“The film maker, Sergey Paradzhanov, used this unique 18th-century lectern on which the Holy Bible was placed in church when he was making his film,” says Serzhant. “We wanted to create an exhibit of the film’s props, including the costumes, and religious and domestic items, which the celebrated film director used in his brilliant production.” Among them is the uplitka, headgear worn by Marichka (Larysa Kadochnikova), the topirets, the long-handled small ax owned by Ivanko (Ivan Mykolaichuk), massive wooden candlesticks from the 19th century, and 18th-century icons. Remember when the main actors are staring at each other in church? Now, watching the film, you will certainly recognize the icons and candlesticks.
The exhibit features stills and a variety of documentary material: photographs of Paradzhanov, leaflets with his autographs, the director’s sketches and posters announcing his premieres in various countries, as well as prints by Heorhiy Yakutovych, the production designer and one of the illustrators of Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky’s eponymous novel. In fact, the Kotsiubynsky Memorial Museum Preserve based in Chernihiv collaborated on this project, submitting a pre-revolutionary edition of Kotsiubynsky’s novel, along with pages from the manuscript and illustrations created by Mykhailo Zhuk, a noted early 19th-century artist.
This multifaceted exhibit recreates the history of the Ukrainian poetic cinema and the events of the 1960s, and showcases Hutsul ethnography. The exhibit continues until Dec. 15.
