We’re curating a film series for the Ukrainian Institute
The Ukrainian Institute of American in New York City asked me (Dean) to curate a new film series starting this fall. Our first event will be October 9, 2022, at 2pm at the Institute on 79th and 5th Avenue.
I named the series Fertile Ground, for the famed black earth of Ukraine and because the past two decades have been the beginning of a new cultural renaissance there. The wheat in the logo design echoes a tattoo Ukrainians get to show their love of country and heritage (one that Russian soldiers look for in occupied territory).
Before each screening a new speaker from Ukraine will give a short talk – in English – that creates context for our audience, giving greater insight into both life in Ukraine and culture and thinking there now.
Our first film is My Thoughts are Silent (subtitled), a comedy (dramedy) about Vadim, a sound engineer who just got his lucky break if he can survive a road trip with his mother first. It was the most streamed film in Ukraine on Feb 24, 2022.
And we are lucky to have Volodymyr Yermolenko, philosopher, analyst, and editor-in-chief of Ukraine World to tell us why. He will examine the key things to understand about Ukraine’s astonishing resistance to Russia’s invasion, the role of “ordinary” people who become extraordinary, and how the ordinary and the extraordinary play out in in this film.
Drake Creative, LLC