[aaus-list] [HUSI 2008] FILM PRESENTATION: Mon., July 21, 7-9 p.m. - "An Unknown Oleksander Dovzhenko" (Zvenyhora, 1928)

[Seegel, Steven]

*** HARVARD UKRAINIAN SUMMER INSTITUTE 2008 ANNOUNCEMENT *** 
 
The 2008 Harvard Ukrainian Summer Institute will host the following film showcase at Harvard University on Monday, July 21.  The event is free and open to the public. 

 

AN UNKNOWN OLEKSANDER DOVZHENKO: ZVENYHORA, 1928 

 

Presented by Yuri Shevchuk

*** Co-sponsored by the Ukrainian Film Club and the Ukrainian Studies Program at Columbia University *** 

 

Monday, July 21, 2008 

7:00-9:00 PM

Harvard University

CGIS South (S-020), Belfer Case Study Room

1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge MA 02138

 

Directions: http://map.harvard.edu/

 

 

ABOUT THE FILM 


 

There is a mysterious place in the midst of the Ukrainian steppes, the Zvenyhora, or the Ringing Mountain. According to folk legends it harbors invaluable treasures of the Scythians. The entire chain of historic events that left their trace on the face of Ukraine - the Varangians, the nomad invaders, the struggle against the Polish gentry, the Haidamaka uprising, the First World War and the Bolshevik Revolution - are connected by one image of a Ukrainian old man, ageless, ingenuous, enterprising, cunning and indestructible - Dovzhenko's personification of Ukrainian identity itself. The old man's entire life is devoted to hunting for the illusive hidden treasures, which, as the film unfolds increasingly appear as a metaphor of Ukraine's national sole and its - yet unlocked - spiritual potential. In the process, the old man is torn between his grandson Pavlo, epitome of the Ukrainian nationalist cause, and Tymishko, forward-looking, proletariat-oriented Bolshevik. The old man, instigated by Pavlo attempts to derail the Bolshevik train of progress. He is captured by Tymish's comrades-in-arms, forgiven and taken on board the train speeding away towards the bright new day.  

 
 
 
Dr. Steven Seegel
Director, 2008 Harvard Ukrainian Summer Institute
Assistant Professor of History, Worcester State College
Harvard University
Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute
34 Kirkland Street
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02143
office: (617) 496-6001
cell: (865) 437-7832
fax: (617) 495-8097