Larisa Bryukhovetska, film critic, editor-in-chief of Kino-teatr magazine, expressed her opinion on Ukrainian cinema during the war, cinematographers at the front and on film sets, high-profile events around the “Dovzhenko Center” on the air of “Kultura” radio.
“On February 24, 2022, we all faced the fact of a terrible war,” said Larisa Bryukhovetska. All funds planned for film production were stopped, the state could not finance the cinema. “But the force of inertia, built up in recent years, continued to act, and our cinematographers did not stop and continued their work,” the film critic added.
Cinematographers who went to the front
Larisa Bryukhovetska spoke about the film artists who defend Ukraine with weapons in their hands. “World star Oleg Sentsov signed up for the Teroborona even before the invasion, and then he fought in the hottest spots in Donbas, and now he is there.
I would like to name our famous cinematographers Serhiy Mikhalchuk, Yaroslav Pilunskyi, director Yevgeny Ktytorchuk, a documentarian and hospitalist who has been fighting since 2014 and has made several documentaries. I also want to mention a few names of the actors. Roman Semisal, Oleg Shulga, who starred in the films “Chervony” and “Callsign Banderas”, Oleksandr Mavritz, actor of the Transcarpathian Theater, who also starred in the film “Chervony”.
Oleksandr Pecheritsa, Yevhen Nyschuk, Zakhar Nechypor from the Franka Theater, Volodymyr Rashchuk from the Lesya Ukrainka Theater, who joined the “Freedom” battalion, was wounded and returned to the front again.
Pavlo Aldoshin, who became famous thanks to the film “Sniper White Raven”, and is now a sniper at the front. I will remember Dmytro Linartovych from the film “The One Who Walked Through the Fire” (pro information facebook page of the film “Exchange”, in which Linartovich played one of the main roles, Dmytro suffered a severe contusion and shrapnel wound in the battles for Soledar. Dmytro is currently undergoing treatment. He needs help).
Akhtem Seitablayev, who has also been fighting since the first day, and before that he defended Ukraine in his films “Khaitarma” and “Cyborgs”, they are fighting together with the famous actor Oleksiy Tritenko. Andriy Fedinchyk, a famous serial actor, and many, many others. Let’s mention Oleksandr Zhukovin, an actor, director and stuntman, as well as Pasha Lee, an actor who starred with Seitablayev. He died in the first days in Irpen. Memory and honor”.
“Dovzhenko Center” is a treasury of our assets
According to Larisa Bryukhovetska, “Dovzhenko Center” is a treasury of our possessions. “Each country that produces films has its own film archive, where the originals of these films are stored. I mean the film from which editions are printed. Time passes, new films appear, but there is also interest in past cinema, retrospectives, film festivals of the silent period are held, for example. This is a layer of culture that is very important for the self-understanding of the nation, for its identification.” During the times of the Soviet Union, the republics did not have their film archives, noted Larisa Bryukhovetska, only chronicles and documentaries were kept. “This archive was and is now in Kyiv on Solomyanka. And all the original materials of the feature films went to the Moscow region – there was the “Belye stolby” film fund. When independent Ukraine was formed, there were appeals from our side, but Russia did not even think of returning ours to us. Although these films were made with the money of the republic, because Moscow did not provide funds for these films. They asked for at least high-quality copies from which it would be possible to print. The negotiation process lasted until 2014.” “We started talking about our own Ukrainian archive in 1991,” continues Larisa Bryukhovetska. ― It was created on the occasion of Oleksandr Dovzhenko’s 100th birthday. It was then that the decree on the establishment of the Dovzhenko National Center was issued.
I think this name is wrong. It could be called either “film archive” or “film fund”. The Center existed as a film archive until the moment when Ivan Kozlenko arrived sometime in 2012 and turned the institution from a passive film preservation organization into a cultural Center. The premises of the Center were renovated, halls for showing films were arranged, and over time a museum was formed, which made a very loud statement about itself. This was all the work of young specialists who came with the desire to make this Center a center of the European model. This fully corresponded to the desire to learn more about Ukrainian cinema and its past. The center did a lot of work to find films of the silent period, because these films were destroyed by the Soviet authorities. Specialists searched for these films in various archives of different countries and popularized them. That is, successful cultural work was carried out in the field of cinema, although interruptions in funding began in 2020.”
Larisa Bryukhovetska emphasized: “We were all shocked when the documents from the reorganization of the Dovzhenko Center came out in August.” Why reform a successful institution? There are analogies here with the period in the 1920s when there was a successful All-Ukrainian Photocinema Administration, and Moscow suddenly intervenes and destroys this institution.”
