Orange Revolution begets commercial film industry (03/12/06)

Orange Revolution begets commercial film industry

by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - The Orange Revolution has launched Ukraine's commercial film industry.

On March 1, the film company Cinema premiered the first Ukrainian-financed, -written, -produced and -directed film targeted for national commercial release, "Pomarancheve Nebo" (Orange Sky).

"From the very start, we had a fighting task - to make a truly Ukrainian film, said Yurii Butusov, who wrote the film with Svitlana Rudzynska. "This project is for the development of Ukrainian film and it won't be our last."

On its national release day, March 2, "Pomarancheve Nebo" debuted in every oblast capital in Ukraine with the exception of Kirovohrad, Mr. Butusov said.

It was the first Ukrainian-made film distributed nationally at commercial movie theaters, whose typical fare is U.S. and Russian movies.

Though some Ukrainian film critics have dismissed "Pomarancheve Nebo" as pop culture fodder, they acknowledge the significance that theaters nationwide were willing to invest in a Ukrainian-made product.

"Typically, theaters refuse to show anything domestic," said Dmytro Desiateryk, the culture critic for the daily national newspaper Den. "They figure they could at least break even on a typical Hollywood film. But they were willing to take a risk."

Cinema produced 33 copies for distribution in theaters - an unprecedented number for a Ukrainian-made film, said Oleksander Kyriyenko, who made his directorial debut with the film.

"Pomarancheve Nebo" is a love story that unfolds during the tumultuous Orange Revolution.

"The events one year ago represented a most vivid and extraordinary period," Mr. Butusov said, describing the film's setting. "It was a time when people, regardless of their political beliefs, did extraordinary and interesting things. It was a time of change and hope in society and a time of the intense emotions."

Russian actor Alexander Lymariev, who starred in the popular Russian series "Soldaty," plays the leading male role of Mark Zadukha, the wealthy son of the Kyiv Oblast chairman.

He is torn between two women "his foxy playmate Asya (played by Russian actress Ksenia Bielaya) and Orange Revolutionary Ivanna, played by Vinnytsia native Lidia Obolenska.

As Mark and Ivanna spend more time together and begin to fall in love, he is faced with a decision of whether he should please his parents and join Asya in London, or remain in Kyiv with Ivanna and join the Orange Revolution.

As he's pursuing Ivanna, Mark witnesses and begins to appreciate the sacrifices common Ukrainians are making on behalf of the Orange Revolution, thus becoming conscious of a Ukrainian spirit that he never knew before.

"(The revolution) was a time when relations developed quickly and people thought quickly given that society was in an extreme situation of heightened stress," Mr. Butusov said. "It was what brought Ukraine fame and, at the same time, enriched the spirit in each of us."

Though the film is primarily a love story, it is also highly political, casting the Orange Revolution in a favorable light and the Kuchma government as oppressive.

Those anxious to relive the historic events are treated to scenes from the revolution, both recorded and re-enacted.

Scenes occur at the Khreschatyk's tent city, the Central Election Commission, the Presidential Administration building (now known as the Secretariat) and the Cabinet of Ministers building.

Ivanna gives Viktor Yushchenko a bouquet of flowers in one scene that was actually filmed on Freedom Day, the revolution's first anniversary celebrated on the "maidan," Kyiv's Independence Square.

But most events are fictitious since "from the very start, we never said this was a film about the Orange Revolution," Mr. Butusov said. "It's better to do a documentary about the revolution," he said. "We did not make a film based on real-life events."

Okean Elzy fans will gain exceptional enjoyment from the film, which includes several of the group's songs in its soundtrack.

"Pomarancheve Nebo" was produced on a $500,000 budget, said producer Yaroslav Mendus, a long-time ally of Oleksander Moroz and loyal member of the Socialist Party of Ukraine, which contributed a large portion of the film's financing.

As a result, the Socialist Party included a 30-second political advertisement in which Mr. Moroz visits the tent city and memorializes the slain journalist, Heorhii Gongadze.

Mr. Mendus declined to comment on which businessmen within the party provided the financing.

Minister of Internal Affairs and Socialist Party member Yurii Lutsenko denied the film was released as a political ad during the election campaign. March 1 happened to be Mr. Moroz's birthday. "It's a small, simple gift," Mr. Lutsenko said.

Many didn't believe such a young team of film-makers could make a quality movie in such a short period of time - half a year, Mr. Mendus said.

The film's creators could have taken a simpler approach and invited a Russian crew, Mr. Butusov said. "Their film industry is well-established, their production methods are developed, the production company Mosfilm is not any worse than Hollywood studios," he said.

"As much as our task was to create a pure Ukrainian project, since we believed that it was entirely possible, we went down a more nerve-wracking, demanding path," he said.

Cinema is in discussions to distribute the film in theaters and on video in Poland, Finland and even the Russian Federation, Mr. Mendus said.

As to why many of the leading roles were given to Russians and even a Finn, Mr. Butusov said, given that a Ukrainian film industry doesn't exist, actors and actresses were either inadequate or unavailable for many of the roles.

When asked at a February 28 press conference what he thought of the Orange Revolution, Mr. Lymariev said the Ukrainian people "found the strength to stand up and that demands great respect."

"I am a pacifist and I am against revolutions and revolts, but sometimes it's necessary," he added.

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