You're reading: What’s on at Odessa Film Festival

Odessa Film Festival starting on July 15 is very young, yet ambitious.

The port city, famous for the silent film “Battleship Potemkin” by Soviet director Sergei Eisenshtein, has a long cinematic history, which has been all but forgotten in the last decades.

Deputy Prime Minister Sergiy Tigipko’s wife Viktoria is one of those film addicts who want to revive it.

In its second year, the festival will host Hollywood actor John Malkovich to attract more attention.

Marina Vladi, the wife of the legendary Soviet poet, singer and actor Vladimir Vysotsky, will also come to Odesa to greet the new Russian film “Vysotsky, Thanks for Being Alive.”

The singer, known for his outspoken and sharp lyrics, died in 1980, but his spirit lives on in nearly every home in former Soviet states.

Popular Russian actress Oksana Akinshena who played Vysotsky’s wife in the movie will accompany Vladi.

Sadly, the festival’s program is not very well balanced.

The official part includes movies that have been shown before during festivals around the world.

And we don’t mean Cannes. The films played at the much less-known Warsaw or Palm Springs festivals, for example.

The jury will select the best of 14 competing films and present dozens of others broadcast in original languages with subtitles.

The jury is headed by famous Polish actor Eji Shtur, best known to Ukrainians from the movie “Déjà vu” that was immensely popular in the 1990s.

“Submarine” by Richard Aoyade (U.S., 2010) might be a good choice for those who like contemporary American cinema from outside Hollywood.

It’s a comedy drama about a boy who wants to lose his virginity before his 15th birthday and to help his mother fix a relationship with her ex-lover.

“Melancholia” by Lars von Trier is one of the best movies on the program.

A science fiction thriller, it tells the story of two sisters against the background of the collision of two planets in space, using an unusual film structure.

Ukrainians would have liked it more if our Bond girl, Olha Kurilenko, had played the lead role, but she was elbowed out by Kirsten Dunst.

Don’t miss Wim Wenders’“Pina,” the first art house film and documentary ever made in 3D.

Wenders is a legend. Among dozens of films, he’s best known for “Paris, Texas,” “Wings of Desire” and “American Friend.”

In his latest work, he paid homage to his friend Pina Baush, a legendary dance choreographer.

She died on stage in 2009, days before the start of the shooting. This cinematic experience of the year is a must-see.

For more information, see www.oiff.com.ua/en

Kyiv Post staff writer Alexey Bondarev can be reached at [email protected]