Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
**Events may have been canceled or postponed. Please contact the venue to confirm the event.
Date & Time
Thu, Mar 02 7:00 PM - 9:20 PM
Address (map)
UCSB
Venue (website)
Pollock Theater
Sergei Parajanov’s 1965 classic Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors is an enduring testament to Ukrainian cultural identity and a landmark film in the emergence of Ukrainian poetic cinema. Set among the stunning Carpathian Mountains, the film centers on Ivan and Marichka, two star-crossed lovers who challenge centuries-old customs to maintain their forbidden relationship.
Parajanov (1924–1990), a Soviet-Armenian filmmaker who grew up in Georgia and studied his craft in Moscow, broke new ground when he arrived to work in Kyiv in the 1950s. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors marked an unprecedented break from Socialist Realism, making a powerful political statement of Ukrainian national revival and earning international accolades in the process. In light of the current Russo-Ukrainian War, the film remains acutely relevant today.
In this special event, filmmaker Yuri Neyman and Roman Koropeckyj (Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Languages & Cultures, UCLA) will join moderator Sasha Razor (Film and Media Studies, UCSB) for a post-screening discussion of Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors.