Ukrainian Films in Iceland
To begin with, I arrived to the airport very late at night. Alex Zaklinsky, artist and founder of the Lost Horse Gallery, kindly met me there. We got into a car and went to Reykjavík. However, due to constant darkness I couldn't see the country, but I noticed that Iceland has got good roads. I was happy to live at the nice and spacious House of Artists in the center of the city. The next day Alex showed me Reykjavík. When I saw the city in the daylight I fell in love with it at first sight. There were small multi-colored houses, which walls were painted by artists, quiet streets, no traffic jams, people were not in a hurry, very measured rhythm of life and of course the smell of the sea felt every time when the wind blows.
A few days later, at the evening I held a workshop about how to shoot an independent Ukrainian film at the Bio Paradis cinema. Some people participated in my workshop, which lasted approximately two hours, and I was extremely happy to have them all, hence, it was absolutely new and fascinating experience for me. The audience consisted mainly of film professionals. At the same time, there were a few simply curious viewers. I had a privilege to screen two of my works: «The Lovers» (2009) and «Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes» (2011) in one of the oldest cinema Bio Paradis in Reykjavík. Moreover, there were a lot of interesting questions from the audience and I enjoyed it deeply; I told about the process of making the short film in Ukraine, and about my preferences in working with actors, camera, mise-en-scene and the sound process. In addition, there were a lot of discussions about the audience perception and reaction on Ukrainian short films and the current situation of the Ukrainian Independent Film industry. Furthermore, Icelandic filmmakers shared with me their impressions about their film industry, and to my great regret I discovered that situation with the film industry in our countries are very similar. For instance, the film school was closed in Iceland, because of bankruptcy, although, it was only one film school in the whole country. In comparison, in my homeland we have got also only one Film University – Kyiv National University of Theatre, Film and Television named after I.K. Karpenka-Kary, and miraculous the Institute of Screen Arts is still exists, though it is on the brink of extinction. If the lack of funding and total ignorance of the government will continue, unfortunately, the Institute won't have any chances to survive. I really hope that the situation with the film industries in both countries will improve.
The following day, Valentyna Zalevska, a cooperation manager of Wiz-Art Film Festival screened at the Bio Paradis cinema a Ukrainian cult film of the sixties called «Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors» by the Soviet-Armenian filmmaker Sergei Parajanov based on the book by Ukrainian writer Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky. In my point of view, it was essential event for both Icelandic and Ukrainian culture. Surprisingly, a myriad of young people came to see the film, and it is really great.
The next day Valentyna and I took a car and went to see the countryside outside the city. Icelandic Nature striked me and fascinated with its power and beauty: there are waterfalls, geysers, and famous Blue Lagoon that I visited with a great pleasure. Iceland is the land of horses; horses of different colors were freely walking around the Icelandic fields.
Finally, the RIFF Film Festival began. There I watched a lot of interesting films, during a day I usually attended three sessions of full-length films. Afterwards, we started the long-awaited Talent Lab with the curator of talent laboratory Marteinn Thorsson. To the Talant Lab attended directors from around the world. The Master Classes usually were started since 8.30 am till 21.00 pm, sometimes the last screenings ended at 01.00 am. In spite of the highest workload I really liked it. Talent Lab is one of the most favorite memories from whole journey, because I met new friends from different cultures and had a great time with them enjoying our collaboration and endless discussions of film regarding issues.
To summarize, the trip was amazing. Now I am well acquainted with the cultural life of Reykjavík. The collaboration with the partners went very fine and I got a good insight in the Icelandic film industry. We exchanged a lot of knowledge, and I would like to keep contact with the partners and hope to see them again in Kyiv, Ukraine. It would have been a great pleasure to see some of the Icelandic short films in Ukraine.
