Ukrainian cinema

This is a book about Ukrainian cinema during the Soviet “Thaw” period.

American researcher Joshua First explores the films of Sergei Parajanov, Leonid Osyka, Ivan Mykolaichuk and Yurii Illienko — showing how through cinema in the 1950s–60s a sense of belonging, language, visual identity and cultural self-awareness was taking shape in Ukraine.

It is a close analytical study that dismantles the imperial framework of Soviet culture and focuses on what remains “between the frames” — what is implied, suppressed or only partially visible.

The edition is enriched with archival stills from the collection of the Dovzhenko Centre.