Brief Encounters
In collaboration with Ukrainian-Canadian programmers Alina Senchenko and Iryna Borzilova, we are presenting a comprehensive overview of Ukrainian film history, spanning nearly a century, from the Soviet era to the present day. A portion of the proceeds from this series will be donated to victims of the war in Ukraine through the Maple Hope Foundation.
Kira Muratova’s debut feature explores the effects of gender roles and societal pressures on women during the Soviet era by observing the complex relationship between three working people. The main character, played by Muratova herself, is a self-reliant woman with a successful job in the city. During a challenging phase of her marriage, she invites a young woman from the village to assist her at home. There, the guest proceeds to share her own story involving the same man. A touching vignette of life in the 1960s, Brief Encounters also provides insight into the political corruption that infiltrated every corner of life under the Soviet regime.
“[An] audacious portrait of two women on the cultural fringes pining after the same man… The texture of domestic items and the soft geometries of light and shadow enhance every frame of this wry relationship drama.” (Natalia Winkelman, The New York Times)
Kira Muratova
Kira Muratova was an Ukrainian award-winning film director, screenwriter and actress, known for her unusual directorial style. Muratova's films were heavily censored in the Soviet Union, yet she managed to emerge as one of the leading figures of contemporary Ukrainian cinema, and was able to build a very successful film career from the 1960s onwards. She was awarded the People's Artist of Ukraine honorary title in 1989, the Shevchenko National Prize in 1993, and the Oleksandr Dovzhenko State Prize in 2002. Muratova spent much of her artistic career in Odessa, making most of her films at Odesa Film Studios. Her work has been described as "one of the most distinctive and singular oeuvres of cinematic world-making."
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