Film week

58 years ago, on September 4, 1965, the premiere of the renowned film "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" by Sergei Parajanov took place at the "Ukraine" cinema in Kyiv - one of the iconic events in Ukrainian cinema.

But the prehistory of Ukrainian cinema dates back to 1893 when Joseph Timchenko, even before the Lumière brothers, invented and constructed a prototype of a modern movie camera and a projection apparatus. He also conducted the world's first film shoots. From November 7 to December 20, 1893, two films, "Cavalry Horses" and "Blacksmith's Helper," were showcased at the "France" hotel in Odessa.

However, the true breakthrough in Ukrainian cinema occurred in 1925 when the film "Battleship Potemkin" was released, which is still considered one of the greatest films in world cinema.

It's also worth mentioning the name of Oleksandr Dovzhenko, who became a central figure in Ukrainian cinema. His films, such as "Zvenyhora," "Arsenal," and "Earth," gave rise to a new direction in cinema - "Ukrainian poetic cinema." The latter of these films made it into the top 12 films of all time and nations, as determined by a survey at the Fifth World Exhibition in Brussels in 1958.

And in 2014, the premiere of the film "The Tribe" took place, which became the world's first film without words, where sign language became the primary means of communication. The film was released in theatres in dozens of countries and was presented at over 100 film festivals worldwide, receiving over 40 awards, including the European Film Award and three prizes at the Cannes Film Festival.

Over these more than one hundred years of Ukrainian cinema history, there have been numerous developments and milestones, and today our film industry is recognized and respected worldwide. May this history continue to flourish, bringing us new and unforgettable masterpieces of cinematic art.