When Roman Himey and Yarema Malashchuk talk about their film New Jerusalem, they compare the work on it with the hunt for paradoxes. Both filmmakers and Andriy Bondarenko, a film critic, playwright and doctor of philosophy, will discuss how the creative duo was formed and what issues it focuses on; where the boundary between folk culture and kitsch lies; how religiousness in Western Ukraine becomes a marker of loyalty, and whether ‘peering into the rock’ is a metaphor for cultural work.
Andriy Bondarenko is a playwright, doctor of philosophy, and the head of literature and drama at the Lviv Puppet Theatre. Previously he worked as a journalist and cultural reviewer, writing on cinema, art and contemporary Ukrainian culture at large.
Yarema Malashchuk and Roman Himey are a filmmaking duo based in Kyiv. Since 2013, they have been working together on the edge of visual art and cinema as artists, film directors and cinematographers. In their work, they explore the image of the crowd as a separate character in history and culture. Their films have been screened and exhibited in Mexico, Italy, Germany, Austria, Canada. They were awarded the Special Prize (2018) and the Main Prize (2020) at the PinchukArtCentre, the Grand Prix at the Young Ukrainian Artists Award (MUHi 2019), Best Short Documentary at the Festival Internacional de Cine Silente México, and Best Production Award at the Fashion Film Festival Kyiv.
