Program
19.00: doors open, borscht served in the Kelderbar
20.30: start film

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February 24 marks 4 years since the full-scale Russian invasion in Ukraine, although the violence has been happening long before that. The war is receiving less and less media attention while it’s still raging on and Ukrainians are bravely continuing the fight for their freedom and sovereignty. That’s why tonight we celebrate Ukrainian culture by screening an iconic movie from its silent film era, while commemorating what’s happening right now by making this screening a fundraiser. 

Земля, or Earth in English, is a Soviet-era silent film about the time of the first Five-Year-Plan in Ukraine. It’s a visually stunning ode to Ukrainian nature and people that could be seen as an act of resistance against Soviet oppression at the time. Director Alexander Dovzhenko was commissioned to make this a propaganda film for Stalin’s farm collectivisations, a policy that ultimately led to great famine and millions of deaths. Dovzhenko, however, focused on visual poetry and the traditional way of Ukrainian life. So much so that it was later denounced as ‘Ukrainian nationalist propaganda’ by the Soviet state. 

Donations will go directly to Ukrainians in the warzone. There will be a donation box for cash, a QR-code for digital transfers and authentic Ukrainian food. – Lucas

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