This year German cinema week, a traditional part of Molodist non-competition program, will show tendencies and processes in the cinema of all German-speaking countries. This year we present a pilot of the traditional program’s conceptually modified extended version. The best movies from Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and numerous German-speaking co-productions will expressively present the region’s film production to the Ukrainian audience.

This traditional Molodist festival program will have conceptual changes this year, leaving behind its narrow geographical orientation. This time the focus will extend to the French-speaking cinema from all over the world. Watch new films from Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, French-speaking Africa, and, in prospect, from the Middle East in renewed “French connection”.

The classical festival program now broadens its view, embracing the cinema not only of Eastern Europe, but also of Asian countries. Due to such transformation, we will be able to present the cinema that over the last decade has grown from festival exotic to influential film production on the world market.

Scandinavian Panorama

Due to the extraordinary quality and quantity of its film production, the Scandinavian region is essential in creating the face of contemporary European cinema. Each year, a dozen of films in “Scandinavian Panorama” present a high quality viewer-oriented selection that is an integral part of the geographically oriented non-competition program of Molodist.

 

New Russian Cinema

“New Russian Cinema” program of Molodist is the major importer of high quality Russian arthouse to Ukraine. Seven most exciting events of the last year will be shown on the cinema screens of Kyiv. The films that Ukrainian audience mostly won’t be able to see in general release will be screened at the end of October at the traditional festival site – Zhovten movie theatre. This year’s program is an emblematic parade of young directors and reputable maestros that includes major Russian cinema events, participants of Berlin, Cannes, Venice international film festivals, as well as Russian national festival Kinotavr.

Festival of the Festivals

This year’s major cinema events are brought to Kyiv with the shortest delay possible. This is the traditional festival program that has been drawing attention of the audience and press for more than a decade. It includes participants of the official selections and prize winners of the major film festivals of the world – Cannes, Berlin, Locarno, Karlovy Vary, etc. Combining cinema for the wide audience with the intellectual author’s statement, this selection makes the perfect space for observation of thelatest trends and development processes in contemporary cinema.

2011 is the second year of the program that aims to present the works at the intersection of film and media art, artworks that are close to cinema and have a powerful impact on contemporary film. For the second time, we aim to show the artworks that present a transitional stage between cinema and media/video art. It is the evolution stage of cinema language which can be shown within a traditional screening in a movie theater. Crucial for Molodist Cinergy is participation of curators and festival program coordinators in presentation of the program elements to the audience, as well as lectures and master classes that will be held as a part of the satellite educational project of the festival – Molodist Talent Wokshop.

This year’s program presents a number of export elements from the most important specialized festivals – Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen (Oberhausen, Germany), Mediaforum (Moscow, Russia), Internationale Forum Expanded (Berlin, Germany), special screenings, multimedia project “Masks/Portraits”. The program will also include the retrospective of the prominent pioneer of independent experimental cinema Maya Deren, organized in cooperation with the largest film archive in the world – Arsenal Institut für Film und Videokunst (Berlin, Germany).

 

Long Nights of the Short Films: Germany / France

Long-awaited nights of the short films are again on the screens of Kyiv. Two geographically oriented selections finely represent popular cinema at the festival, drawing viewers to six-hour long night screenings. The programs that have already become traditional for Molodist film festivalwill present two large sets of shorts – “German Night” and “French Night”. The most developed European countries in terms of film production will provide an average of two hours of animation, about an hour of documentary and three (!) hours of feature shorts in each set. Six hours of screening overall, full spectrum of emotions, and eyes tired of watching are guaranteed.

Memorial content of the program is finely complemented by the educational aspect that makes it more than just commemoration of the greatdirectors. Cinema classics on a big screen in the major festival movie theatres – this is direct and unlimited access to the creative works of Maestros, a unique possibility to recall or learn about the massive amount of films that shaped contemporary cinema and, apparently, will find its continuation in the cinema of the future. Claude Chabrol, Sidney Lumet, Elizabeth Taylor, Michalis Kakogiannis, Lyudmila Gurchenko, Annie Girardot – in this year's “In memoriam”.

Special Events and Multimedia Projects

Special screenings are standalone events –films that can’t be presented within any thematic or geographically oriented festival program. Film-confession by famous Kim Ki-duk who was the head of jury at Molodist a decade ago; scandalous and acute documentary by Cyril Tuschi “Khodorkovsky”, which was premiered at Berlin IFF; a number of events that honor the outstanding politician, playwright and director Vaclav Havel; a bright illustration of creativity of the Molodist-2011 international jury member –director Juraj Jakubisko –“An Ambiguous Report About the End of the World”; and great homage to the creativity of brilliant Andrey Tarkovskiy, devoted to the forthcoming jubilee –screening of “The Sacrifice”, a documentary biopic and a large photo exhibition illustrating the work on the last film by Tarkovskiy. The jubilee of film director Roman Balayan will also be commemorated in the form of special event.

With the series of multimedia projects this year's festival transcends the boundaries of traditional screenings and launches the tradition of big projects at the intersection of visual and audio arts. The screening of restored German film by Eugene Illés “Mania: The Story of a Cigarette Worker” starring brilliant Pola Negri will be accompanied by the concert of chamber orchestra Leopoldium from Wrocław, Poland, recreating the atmosphere of the film’s premiere in 1918. Exquisite concept will surely make it a significant event for both the beau monde and the wide audience.

The multimedia performance "Masks" is a unique media presentation that will combine contemporary improvised music with archival and modern footage shot by Ukrainian documentarians at different times during the expeditions to the Carpathian Mountains and in the whirl of activity at Molodist festival. Improvisation will be the basis, VJs will work live with various videos, rethinking them and turning musicians into the characters of video-stories. Musicians will tell their stories via saxophones, clarinets, percussion and voice, looking thoughtfully to what is happening on the screen, listening to each other, to themselves and to the audience, to whom they will address their stories. The project involves entirely open, sincere, improvisational performance, without any clichés and templates.