ENG15 classic Ukrainian films to stream right now

What is the film about? Ivan and Marichka grow up together and fall in love with each other. He sets out to find work in the polonyna, mountain meadows in the Carpathians, hoping to return by winter in order to marry Marichka, but she dies while he is away. The film follows Ivan as he marries another woman but continues to pine for Marichka. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors is an adaptation of the eponymous novel by Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi, known for his detailed and evocative descriptions of life in Ukraine in the early 20th century.

Why watch? According to many critics, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors is the best Ukrainian film and director Serhii Paradzhanov’s masterpiece– a “masterpiece of magical realism,” according to Sense of Cinema.

What is the film about? When the Soviet government decided to collectivize agriculture and industrialize Ukraine, what had been a predominantly agrarian country, villagers who were forced to join the new collective farms were the ones to pay the price. Earth tells a story about relationships, new rules, and a crime committed in one village, set against this historic backdrop.

Why watch? Earth is Oleksandr Dovzhenko’s masterpiece and one of the best Ukrainian films ever made according to film critics. “Commissioned to make propaganda for Stalin’s agrarian collectivization, Soviet cinema’s great visual poet [Oleksandr] Dovzhenko instead delivered an impassioned hymn to nature,” the British Film Institute wrote about Earth.

What is the film about? Petro appeals to a witch to make a girl he likes fall in love with him.

Why watch? Evening on the Eve of Ivana Kupala is Yurii Illienko’s adaptation of Mykola Gogol’s famous magical realist stories in Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka.

What is the film about? Chasing Two Hares, also known as the Kyivan Comedy, tells the story of a barber who decides to marry a rich woman to help settle his debts. The film was adapted from a play by Mykhailo Starytskyi, a 19th century Ukrainian playwright, poet, and writer.

Why watch? This is a classic Ukrainian comedy. The original Ukrainian sound has recently been restored after years of the Russian voice over being the only available version.

What is the film about? The Lost Letter is a comedy based on several novels and stories by Mykola Gogol; it tells the story of a group of Cossacks who set out to meet the Russian Tsarina in St. Petersburg.

Why watch? Ivan Mykolaichuk’s brilliant acting as he battles against evil and the Muscovites.

What is the film about? A comic opera about Cossacks in search for a new life after Russia’s defeat and the destruction of the Zaporizhzhia Host, the Cossack state.

Why watch? Maksym Rylskyi – a poet, translator, and activist who headed the Ukrainian Institute of Fine Arts, Folklore, and Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences between 1944 and his death in 1964 – adapted the screenplay from the eponymous opera by Semen Hulak-Artemovskyi.

What is the film about? A historical fantasy about the 1709 Battle of Poltava, the decisive battle of the Great Northern War in which the Russian army under the command of Tsar Peter I defeated the Swedish army, from one of Ukraine’s foremost directors, Yurii Illienko. After learning that Tsar Peter I intended to relieve him as acting Hetman, or leader, of the Zaporizhzhia Host, Ivan Mazepa defected from the tsar’s army and sided with the Swedish king, with consequences of his decision reverberating in the histories of Ukraine and Russia.

Why watch? Bohdan Stupka truly dazzles as Ivan Mazepa.

What is the film about? Ivan used to own and work his land, but is forced to emigrate to Canada.

Why watch? Stone Cross is based on a novel by Vasyl Stefanyk, a classic tale about Ukrainian migrants. It occupies the fifth spot on the list of best Ukrainian films as chosen by film critics.

What is the film about? Hetman Polubotok has deposited his fortune in a British bank, and his descendant is tasked with retrieving it.

Why watch? The film captures the spirit of Ukraine in the early 1990s.

What is the film about? Forest princess Mavka falls in love with Lukash, a villager. The film follows their lives as Lukash decides to marry another woman.

Why watch? The film – one of the first Ukrainian fantasy movies – is based on a play by Lesia Ukrainka, one of Ukrainian literature’s foremost writers, a feminist and political activist.

What is the film about? In this Ukrainian interpretation of Romeo and Juliet a Cossack falls in love with a Tatar woman. They are not fated to be together.

Why watch? This is one of the most ambitious Ukrainian films of the 2000s.

What is the film about? Martyn Borulya, a wealthy peasant, wants to become a nobleman. The film is adapted from an eponymous play by Ivan Karpenko-Karyi, a renowned 19th-century Ukrainian playwright.

Why watch? The film is based on a true classic of 19th century Ukrainian tragicomedy.

What is the film about? Les Zvonar’s large family lives in a Ukrainian village not far from the Romanian border. His four sons grow up playing in the village ensemble, but eventually part ways: Petro joins the Red Army, Orest the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, and the youngest, Bohdan, stays in his native village. Their paths, however, keep crossing, as they find themselves confronting one another on the battlefield and in love life.

Why watch? This film is number eight on the list of the best Ukrainian films, another classic by Yurii Illienko. It tells the story of one family living in Bukovyna, a historical region in the west of Ukraine, before and after World War II. The main parts are played by Ivan Mykolaichuk and Bohdan Stupka, who later went on to become Ukraine’s Minister of Culture.

What is the film about? The film was adapted from the eponymous vaudeville by Ivan Kotliarevskyi, an 18-19th century Ukrainian writer, poet, playwright, and social activist regarded as the pioneer of modern Ukrainian literature. The plot revolves around Tetiana, who is courted by suitors while her husband is away.

Why watch? A hilarious comedy from the 1990s, starring Ruslana Pysanka and Bohdan Beniuk, who went on to have remarkable careers in Ukrainian film and TV.

What is the film about? Natalka is in love with Petro, but is forced to marry Voznyi. The film is adapted from the eponymous opera by Mykola Lysenko, which was in turn based on Ivan Kotliarevskyi’s play of the same title.

Why watch? Natalka Poltavka was one of the first Ukrainian opera films.