In the first half of the 1990s, the National Cinematheque of Ukraine (formerly known as Kyivnaukfilm) film studio produced a number of films about the Ukrainian artistic avant-garde, both historical and contemporary. Some of these films boldly went beyond the standard educational or scientific film, telling about the artistic avant-garde through the medium of experimental cinema. At one time, these films had no chance of being released on the big screen, and most of them were completely forgotten. In 2024, the Kinotron Group discovered some of these films in the archives of the National Cinematheque of Ukraine film studio, and they were digitised in high quality for the first time. The "Delayed Premiere" program is the first public screening of these unique artefacts from the history of Ukrainian experimental cinema.
🎤 Films are screened in their original language, with Ukrainian and English subtitles.
💬 Screening will be followed by an in-person Q&A with Oleksiy Radynsky and Maksym Bernadsykiy.
❗ These films may contain potentially triggering or disturbing elements, such as nudity and the russian language.
🔞 Recommended Age: 12+
Program partner of the screening: Kinotron Group (UA) and the National Cinematheque of Ukraine
Curated by Oleksiy Radynsky
S. PARAJANOV. DELAYED PREMIERE
Director: Yuriy Repik
Country: Ukraine
Duration: 15
Yuriy Repik's film is based on screen tests for Parajanov's unmade film, "The Kyiv Frescoes". These materials were accidentally discovered in the early 1990s. Repik's work itself almost repeated the fate of "The Kyiv Frescoes": shortly after its creation, this film virtually disappeared. The delayed premiere of "Delayed premiere" took place in 2025 at the Rotterdam Film Festival, and the Ukrainian premiere of the restored version of this film will be held at KISFF.
A PORTAIT WITHOUT A FACE
Director: Yuriy Zmorovych
Country: Ukraine
Duration: 30
A film about avant-garde artist Oleksandra Ekster, directed by avant-garde artist Yuriy Zmorovych. In addition to his directing work at Kyivnaukfilm, Zmorovych was known in narrow circles as a multi-instrumentalist musician, performer, sculptor, media artist, and poet. In his film, Zmorovych uses almost every one of these artistic disciplines, as well as elements of new film genres that came in the 90s: action and erotic film.
VICTORY OVER THE SUN. EPILOGUE
Director: Maksym Bernadsykiy
Country: Ukraine
Duration: 30
This film by filmmaker and curator Maksym Bernadsky about contemporary art in the 1990s evokes a strong sense of déjà vu. Tiberiy Szilvashi, Oleh Tistol, and Oleksandr Solovyov discuss the artistic collectives “Picturesque Reserve” and “Paris Commune” at an exhibition at the Ukrainian House. The year on screen is 1994, but thirty-odd years later, we will witness the same conversations performed by the same people. However, some of the statements made by the artists in the film sound at least unexpected today.