A master-class about Ukrainian cinema perspectives in bullet points

27 June 2016г. FILM.UA Faculty visited Lviv with a master-class again. The master-class was held in partnership with MKK Service.

The “Shadows of the Forgotten Ancestors” exhibition taking place in Lviv June 26^th – July 17^th, served us a great reason to dwell upon the past and the future of cinema. During her speech on “Ukrainian cinema: between the past and the future”, Polina Tolmacheva, shared her views of the opportunities and perspectives of the national cinematography.

It stands to reason, that for the film industry to function properly, having strong economy and favorable business and creative environment is insufficient – you’ve got to keep the audience interested. What is it that can keep it interested nowadays? FILM.UA found some key ways to do it:

• Resort to mythology. As an example, she used “The Stronghold”, a forthcoming family fantasy movie. According to the storyline, a contemporary boy ends up in the past, where he meets the heroes of epic ballades and legends. Not only the unique décor and CGI come to the fore, but also the exciting story that may inspire the audience to learn more about the history of our country.

A full-length feature film will be released December 22^nd.

• Create a high-quality animation. There are two full-length projects in progress now, “Ruslan & Lyudmila” and “Mavka”.
• Build the storyline around national literature. One of the examples may be a full-length animation named Mavka. The cartoon’s script is based on “Forest Song”, a play by Lesia Ukrayinka. The other work in progress is a movie based on “Zakhar Berkut”, a historical novel by Ivan Franko.
• Resort to our history. Another project in progress is a story about Anna Kyivska, a.k.a. Anna Yaroslavna. She was Yaroslav the Wise’s youngest daughter who became a queen of France after she married Genry I of France. 
• Use simple, clear and congenial everyday life stories. A bright example of projects like this became “Doctor on Duty”, a successful TV-series. In spite of very low budget, the project gained high acclaim of millions of viewers due a storyline that is real and very true to life. This is as well one of the first TV-series filmed entirely in the Ukrainian language.

Those who have attended the master-class had a unique opportunity to see the in-progress materials of forthcoming films – “The Stronghold” fantasy, and “Ruslan & Lyudmila” animation.

Have a nice Summer y’all, and good luck!