A series of odd coincidences has left Lukas, an interpreter for an OSCE military checkpoint inspection tour, stranded near a small southern Ukrainian steppe town. With nowhere to turn, this city boy finds shelter at the home of a colorful local named Vova. With Vova as his guide, Lukas is confronted by a universe beyond his imagination, one in which life seems utterly detached from any identifiable structure. Fascinated by his host and his host's daughter Marushka, with whom he is rapidly falling in love, Lukas’s contempt for provincial life slowly melts away and sets him on a quest for a happiness he had never known could exist. (Roman Bondarchuk, Ukraine/Germany, 2018, 106 min.) In Ukrainian with English subtitles
Followed by a Q&A with Yuliya V. Ladygina, Helena Rubinstein University Endowed Fellow in the Humanities, Assistant Professor of Russian and Global Studies, Penn State University
Presented as part of the Modern Ukraine Film Series screening throughout the Philadelphia area. Proceeds from this event will go to Revived Soldiers Ukraine: https://www.rsukraine.org/
Roman Bondarchuk, has a number of outstanding international projects to his name as a documentary filmmaker. The most prominent of them are Euromaidan. Rough Cut (2014), codirected with several filmmakers affiliated with the acclaimed BABYLON 13 project, and Ukrainian Sheriffs (2015), which received the IDFA’s Special Jury Award and was Ukraine’s 2016 submission for the Oscar. Bondarchuk’s fiction feature debut Volcano (2018) retains the feel of his previous documentaries, especially Ukrainian Sheriffs (2015) and Dixi Land (2015). In addition to sharing formal features, all three films use the same region as their setting and foreground the absurdity of scarcity and the dignity of those at home in the anarchic freedom of rural, southern Ukraine. Volcano enjoyed its world premiere at the 53rd Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and generated a lot of excitement in Ukraine, establishing Bondarchuk’s reputation as one of the most prominent contemporary Ukrainian filmmakers.
University of the Arts has updated its COVID policies for visitors and events, effective April 1. Visitors to UArts' campus will no longer be required to provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19, and all capacity restrictions have been lifted. Lightbox Film Center will now operate at 100 percent capacity. Guests will still be required to wear a high-quality and well-fitting mask while on campus.
Masks are still required at all times. Visitors are strongly encouraged to wear N95, KN95, KF94 or three-ply surgical masks while on UArts' campus. Cloth masks are still permitted. All masks should fit tight to the face and securely cover the nose and mouth.
