Sophia DiNaro
Anchor Staff Writer
Calling all film buffs. Rhode Island College is hosting a Ukrainian film series in Gaige Hall, room 100 throughout the month of April. Sponsored by the Committee for Faculty Research and Development, the Committee on College Lectures and the RIC Foundation, the series will be screened each time from 10 a.m. to 11:50 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It’s open to all members of RIC’s campus community and the public.
Dr. Vincent Bohlinger, director of RIC’s Film Studies Program, planned for the series to run at the same time as his Ukrainian Cinema class. Both the series and the class were developed in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that began on Feb. 24, 2022.
Bohlinger organized the film series with the goal to highlight the diversity of Ukrainian cinema and culture in the wake of growing anti-Ukrainian sentiments.
“Putin and state-controlled Russian media assert that there isn’t a distinct Ukrainian culture, thereby claiming that Ukrainian statehood is illegitimate, a fiction,” Bohlinger said. “The class and film series are just one small part of the antidote to such toxic thinking.”
The series will involve screenings of Ukrainian films on April 4, 11 and 18, as well as Zoom sessions with each film’s director on Thursday, April 6, Thursday, April 13 and Thursday, April 20.
The series will feature the works of directors Kateryna Gornostai, Nadia Parfan and Iryna Tsilyk. Said films fall into a variety of genres such as coming-of-age and documentary. First in the screening order is Gornostai’s “Stop-Zemlia”, a 2021 coming-of-age film that takes a closer look at the joys and pains of being a teenager in Ukraine in the 21st century. Bohlinger also noted that this film was playing in theaters at the time of the invasion. Some of the many documentaries to be screened will cover topics such as religion, the LGBTQ+ community, woman artists and the war with Russia.
RIC’s Ukrainian film series is an event like no other. Don’t miss an opportunity to watch unique, moving films and speak to their talented directors on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the month of April.