Film: Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors

(Original title: Tini Zabutykh Predkiv)

Saturday, May 5, 2:00pm, Members $10, Nonmembers $15

One of the landmarks of 1960’s world cinema, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors is a boldly conceived and astonishingly photographed blend of enchanting mythology, hypnotic religious iconography, and pagan magic. Set in the Carpathian Mountains of 19th-century Ukraine, this story of love, hate, life, and death among the Hutsul people is told in lucid anthropological detail. Although its unsentimental depiction of the harsh realities of Slavic regional history forced visionary director Sergei Pararadjanov into direct conflict with bureaucrats then controlling the Soviet film industry, the film became an international sensation when it was released in 1964. An audience discussion will follow the film.

Review from Roger Ebert, January 30, 1978