Making Ukraine fashionable

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in early 90’s the Ukrainian film industry saw the hardest times. Totally neglected, for a decade it was substituted by home videos with Ukrainians gradually falling out of movie-going habit. Jobless but exquisite filmmaking staff from Ukraine filled world’s top class production studios. It is known, for example, that most advanced blockbusters of our time including “Lord of the Rings”, “Titanic” were made with the help of Ukrainian movie specialists. The multitude of studios throughout the country either vanished or turned into TV or ad production ones.
Today, however, there are clear signs of a new system of film industry slowly taking shape in Ukraine and a new generation of filmmakers coming to the scene. Young but already acclaimed Ukrainian filmmaker Oles Sanin is among them – in the front line.
His film “Mamay” has been considered for an Oscar for Best Foreign Picture in 2003. Alongside that this happened for the first time in Ukraine’s history, there are many other reasons why the film was called a pioneer. It was the first full-length film shot in Dolby Digital format corresponding the international distribution standards. And for the first time the Ukrainian film has been in demand by top Hollywood distributors.
The story of “Mamay” enrolment in the list of Oscar nominees is remarkable in itself. The videotape was first shown in San Francisco to the limited audience with 10 members of American Academy present including Donald Tratenberg, Head of the Foreign Language Film Committee, and Francis Coppola who especially liked the film. They bombarded the Ukrainian officials with letters requesting to let the film be considered as Oscar nominee. Ultimately, it resulted in positive resolution of the issue.
Although Sanin’s film hasn’t won any prize that time, it created a precedent and became a sort of ‘culture messenger’ making Ukraine known to the international audience. Now the film is being translated into English ordered by Metro Golden Meyer for further release in the US.
‘Mamay’ also captured attention of the public throughout Ukraine proving that Ukrainians are showing more and more interest in understanding their history and thus searching for their identity. Critics call the film “unique by its form, thinking, with the stunning camera and actors’ performance, and precise sound and music." Based on the 16th century Ukrainian and Tartar epos the movie reveals the eternal theme well understood by everyone – love. As well as Sanin’s next project “Love is…” encompassing 13 short-length feature films based on fundamental human feelings. The project is aimed at promoting young and gifted filmmakers who are in the lead of the emerging new Ukrainian film industry.
Although looking very western, speaking several European languages and expressing cosmopolitan views, Oles Sanin reveals his deep affection towards his land, tradition and people. “Now I want to make an up-to-date movie that would reflect social expectations of my people” – Sanin shares his plans for the future. “I want to show my country modern and vibrant, as it actually is, and turn Ukrainian… fashionable for Ukrainians themselves, and interesting – for the rest of the world!”  Among his characters will be “small” common people who managed to overcome the challenges of changing social reality, thus by doing so they have changed history itself.
The filmmaker is fond of the Renaissance philosophies claiming that even a single person is able to change the world. So was he doing being involved in another major international project for creating a series of full-length documentaries on alternative history of Ukraine with further broadcasts on BBC and TVA. The topic was not chosen incidentally. With the EU expansion European community is getting more interested in their closest neighbours in the new “Near East”. The 6 documentaries encompass the millennial history of Ukraine starting from the Neolithic Trypillian culture till to date. One should not be surprised to know that Ukrainian history has been largely distorted by soviet historiographers which is why the truth has long been waited for by Ukrainians in attempt to answer long asked questions: who we are, where do we come from? True is saying that seeing is believing! Ukraine is so abundant, the time has come for it to be discovered by its own people. Cinema is the perfect intermediate to achieve this, Sanin is certain.