Yurii Illienko
1936 - 2010Illienko was one of Ukraine's most influential filmmakers. His films represented Ukraine and what was happening to it. His films were banned in the USSR for their suspected anti-Soviet symbolism. Only in the recent years have his films been re-released and open to the public.
Illienko was born in Cherkasy in 1936 but during World War II his family was evacuated to Siberia while his father was in the Red Army. He graduated high school in Moscow and Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography in 1960. From 1960 till 1963 he worked as a director of photography at the Yalta Film Studio. In 1963 Illienko started his work as an operator and then a director at Dovzhenko Film Studios. His 1965 film Spring for the Thirsty (written by Ivan Drach) and 1968 film Vechir Na Ivan Kupala where both banned by the Soviet authorities till 1988. His 1971 film The White Bird Marked with Black, received the grand prize of the Moscow Film Festival, but at the 24th Congress of the Communist Party of Ukraine the film was (also) banned and branded "the most harmful movie that has ever been made in Ukraine, specifically for young people". His next film, To dream and to live (written in collaboration with Ivan Mykolaichuk), was stopped 42 times at various stages of production. Illienko then emigrated to Yugoslavia, where he shot the film To live in spite of everything. The film won "Silver" at Pula Film Festival and the prize for best actor. In the Ukrainian SSR, the picture was not allowed to be shown. His 1983 film Lisova pisnia. Mavka won the FIPRESCI Prize. In 1987 Illienko received the title of People's Artist of Ukraine. Yuriy Ilyenko created the independent film studio Fest-Zemlya, where he made the first non-state film in Ukraine. His 1990 film "Swan Lake "The Zone"" again won the FIPRESCI Prize. In 1991 and 1992 Illienko was Chairman of the Ukrainian Cinema Foundation. in 1991 he was awarded the Shevchenko National Prize. His 1994 documentary about Serhiy Parajanov received the "Golden Knight" at the film festival Cinema City. In 1996 he became a member of the Academy of Arts of Ukraine. His 2002 film A Prayer for Hetman Mazepa was banned from rental in Russia.
Illienko died of cancer on 15 June 2010 at the age of 74.
The White Bird Marked with Black
Yuri Ilyenko
Ivan Mykolaichuk, Yuri Mikolaichuk
A family struggles to survive in an area that was claimed as part of Rumania, Poland and the Ukraine, all within a short span of time. When World War II comes, various family members choose different masters; some even choose to work for the Soviets. War, struggle, marriages, births, deaths--all these events punctuate the story of this large family.
The White Bird Marked with Black
The Feast of the Baked Potato
Yuri Ilyenko
Roman Gromadskiy, Leonid Yanovskyi
Drama about Aleksandra Avramovna Derevskaya (1902-1959), who, between the two wars - the Civil and Great Patriotic War, raised 48 orphan children of different nationalities. After her death, each birthday, her large family gathers at the table, to preserve the tradition of serving baked potatoes, which was a favorite dish of the household head.
The Feast of the Baked Potato
The Eve of Ivan Kupalo
Yuri Ilyenko
Gemma Firsova
Petro is a modest farmhand living in an impoverished village in some unspecified long-ago era. He wants to marry the lovely Pidorka, but her stern father won't hear of it. The mischievous demon Basavriuk, offers a deal, enticing Petro into crime for the sake of fortune. Based on Nikolai Gogol’s short story “The Eve of Ivan Kupala” (“St John’s Eve”) and Ukrainian folk tales.
The Eve of Ivan Kupalo
A Spring for the Thirsty
Yuri Ilyenko
Dmitro Milyutenko, Larisa Kadochnikova
A parable centering on an old man who lives a secluded life in the desert, alone with only his memories and photographs. His wellspring, once a source of joy and hope for thirsty passersby, is now rarely used. No longer able to find comfort in his memories, he turns all his photographs to face the walls.
A Spring for the Thirsty
Živjeti za inat
Yuri Ilyenko
Vladimir Popović, Ivan Mykolaichuk
The movie takes us through the trials and tribulations of Petar I Petrovic, the man who united Montenegro in the 18th century and led them in the Battle of Krusi against a huge Turkish army to return victorious and pave the first path towards economic development.
Defying Everybody
Солом'яні дзвони
Yuri Ilyenko
Les Serdyuk, Sergei Podgornyj
Vasyl Vilgota raised two sons. One of them died on the fronts of the Second World War, defending the homeland, and the second served as Hilfspolizei. Vilgota himself also helped the Nazis. Although he carefully hides this fact of his biography, there is one man who knows the truth about him.
Straw Bells
The Legend of Princess Olga
Yuri Ilyenko
Lyudmila Yefymenko, Les Serdyuk
The film is a poetic adaptation of a series of stories (oral and written) about Princess Olha of Kyivan Rus' (Ukraine-Rusʹ) at the start of the 11th century. Inspired by chronicles and folk legends this is a story of a common girl Olha who married Prince Ihor and became his successor on the throne after his murder and one of the most remarkable political leaders in early medieval European history. She converted to Christianity and brought her realm into Europe.
The Legend of Princess Olga
Лісова пісня. Мавка
Yuri Ilyenko
Lyudmila Yefymenko, Viktor Kremlev
Mavka, a water nymph, loves Lukash, a country youth. Their brief happiness ends when Lukash is forced to marry the shrewish Kilina. The Spirit of the Forest turns Lukash into a wolf as punishment for his infidelity. The strength of Mavka's love breaks the spell, but Kilina curses the nymph, transforming her into a weeping willow. This beautiful and tragic story is based on a play written in 1912 by Lesya Ukrainka, a Ukrainian poet, writer and political, civil and female activist, and includes mythological characters taken from Ukrainian folklore.
A Story of the Forest: Mavka
Лебединое озеро. Зона
Yuri Ilyenko
Viktor Solovyov, Pylyp Ilyenko
A convict is forced to hide within a model of a hammer and sickle. Here a tragic romance ensues between the convict and woman worker; which is spoilt by the woman's jealous young son. The convict is then forced to undergo a tragic bid for freedom which ends with the beauty of swans contrasted with the imprisoned convicts and the hopeful but ultimately tragic wait by the woman for her lover.
Swan Lake: The Zone
Улица Ньютона, дом 1
Teodor Vulfovich
Yuri Ilyenko, Larisa Kadochnikova
В Москву с далекого острова приезжает учиться Тимофей Сувернев. Тим успешно сдает экзамены в институт, и сразу же окунается в бурную студенческую жизнь. В упорном труде и учебе он добивается блестящих успехов, его студенческая работа, которую он писал вместе со своим однокурсником Гальцовым, получает на конкурсе золотую медаль. Однако вскоре выясняется, что в работе допущена ошибка. Гальцов безуспешно упрашивает Тима скрыть этот факт. Сувернев возвращается с женой домой, и на берегу моря на старом рыбацком домишке появляется табличка: «ул. Ньютона, д. N1». Наблюдая за правильным ловом рыбы, Тим охраняет море от браконьеров и в свободное время продолжает работать над конкурсной темой, которую ждут в столице...
Улица Ньютона, дом 1
Мріяти і жити
Yuri Ilyenko
Larisa Kadochnikova
The script about loneliness, conformity and the impossibility of creative realization scared the editorial censorship at the studio, and then at Derzhkino. A lot of claims were made against him. The demands for amendments and endless additions and rewrites by the authors lasted for about a year. The original version of the title "Na pokhony!" ("To bow down!") was replaced by "To Dream and to Live". According to Pylyp Ilyenko, the director's eldest son, this name appeared "as a result of censor pressure." Censorship stopped the tape 40 times: at the stage of the literary script, director's, during film tests (the actors were not approved), filming, etc. The film catastrophically fell apart into fragments, into masterfully filmed, but unrelated scenes. The director called the finished version a "dead film".
To Dream and to Live
Молитва за гетьмана Мазепу
Yuri Ilyenko
Bogdan Stupka, Lyudmila Yefymenko
'A Prayer for Hetman Mazepa' unfolds during an interesting era in the history of Eastern Europe when Russia, under Peter the Great, and Sweden, under King Charles XII, struggled for power; the Ukraine was the pawn in the middle. In 1709, Ivan Mazepa, Hetman of Ukraine, which was part of the Russian Empire, signed a pact with the Swedish king promising to support Sweden in its war against Russia provided that the Ukraine was given its independence.
A Prayer for Hetman Mazepa
