A special screening of the film «Babylon XX» with an introductory lecture by film critic Stanislav Tarasenko will take place 9 of December in Lviv’s cinema Planeta Kino (located in Forum Lviv). During the Thursday 9 December lecture, Tarasenko will tell why «Babylon XX» earned the title of «one of the most important Ukrainian films of the last fifty years», what its poetics is, and why this film has become an archetype for modern independent Ukrainian films.
Note that the lecture begins at 19.00, and the screening starts at 19:45. The screenings will continue at the same time nightly through Sunday 12 December. Y
«Babylon XX,» based on Vasyl Zemliak’s novel The Flock of Swans, is a classic of Ukrainian poetic cinema, the directorial debut of actor, screenwriter and director Ivan Mykolaychuk. Best known for his role in Sergei Parajanov’s «Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors«, Mykolaychuk also wrote the screenplay for «The White Bird with the Black Sign« and directed «Babylon XX». Due to Soviet censors, he only produced two films.
Film summary from the cinema:
«The peace and quiet of a picturesque Ukrainian village is disturbed by the return of sailor Klim Sinitsa from the service of the Communist. With cries of «Polundra!» he undermines the naive and primitive sculptures of members of the royal family and, like a true Bolshevik, undertakes to build a commune.
«The local kulaks [peasants who owned more than 8 acres of land] were not enthusiastic about the socialist idea of the common good, so they are already preparing weapons to oppose the people’s commissars. The mysterious coffin-philosopher Fabian observes the confrontation between the old and the new. He is alien to the world of Babylonian passions, he seems to want to stay away, but circumstances do not allow it.»
You can purchase tickets here (link via Google translate to Planeta Kino’s website).
We will add that on Wednesday, 8 December, Lviv will host the pre-premiere screening of the first Ukrainian-language film about mixed martial arts – the sports drama «Blindfolded».
In the center of the story, MMA fighter Julia is trying to build a new life after the death of a loved one in the war on Donbas. However, the dubious message that the guy is alive and needs money for surgery, forces Julia to return to the ring.
Liana Abramova
Translated by Vitalii Holich
You can read a Ukrainian language version of this story here.
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