Rusyn Film at MoMA

From Friday through Monday, MoMA is featuring Four from "East of the West" – a mini-festival of films drawn from the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic.

Founded in 1946l, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is one of the oldest international film festivals in the world, and has become in recent years an important stop on the European festival circuit.

On the schedule is My Nikifor (Moj Nikifor, Krzysztof Krauze, Poland 2004, 100”, official website), about Carpatho-Rusyn (Lemko) naïve artist Epifaniusz Drowniak, a.k.a. Nikifor (1895-1965). Interestingly, Nikifor is played by recently-deceased actress Krystyna Feldman.

The film won the Grand Prix-Crystal Globe, Best Director Award and Best Actress Award at Karlovy Vary in 2005. It screens at MoMA on Friday at 6:00 p.m., Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 8:00 p.m.

Also included is Other Worlds: Made in Šariš (Iné svety: Made in Šariš, Marko Škop, Slovakia/Czech Republic 2006, 78”, official website). The documentary focuses on the Šariš region in eastern Slovakia, and its mix of Šarišans, Rusyns, Jews, Roma and others. The filmmaker investigates how globalization is affecting this multicultural “Little Babylon” and breaking down the traditional diversity.

One of the lead actors is the Rusyn artist Fedor Vico, and the film also includes footage of the 2003 World Congress of Rusyns that took place in near-by Prešov, as well as the Rusyn soccer team Karpatia.

In 2006, Other Worlds won the Audience Award and received a Special Jury Mention in Karlovy Vary. It screens at MoMa on Friday at 8:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:00 p.m.

Also on the schedule are Ragin (Kiril Serebrennikov, Russia/Austria. 2005, 93”) and Monkeys in Winter (Maimuni prez zimata, Milena Andonova, Bulgaria/Germany 2006, 111”).

Four from “East of the West” has been organized by Laurence Kardish, Senior Curator, Department of Film, with the help of the KVIFF Program Department (Eva Zaoralová, Julietta Zacharova, Ivana Novotna, Karel Och).