2025/12/18 by Clea Wanner, Wanner, Clea
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Social Sciences · #Cinema and Media Studies #Historical and Political Studies #New Ukrainian Wave #Soviet and Russian History #Ukraine cinema #cinema and national identity #poetic cinema #post-colonialism #resilience and resistance in film #trauma and war in film
paper · doi:10.17892/app.2025.00021.410
openalex publication_date 2025/12/18 · openalex created_date 2025/12/23 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/01
This review essay examines three recent English-language special journal issues that mark a significant turn in Ukrainian film scholarship: Slavic and East European Journal, vol. 68, no. 3, Fall 2024, ed. Ana Olenina Hedberg; Cinema: Journal of Philosophy and the Moving Image, vol. 15, no. 1, December 2023, eds. Mariia Lihus and Patricia Castello Branco; and Studies in Russian and Soviet Cinema, vol. 18, no. 3, November 2024, eds. Jeremy Hicks and Leonid Machulin. These volumes collectively challenge the long-standing Russocentric framing of Ukrainian cinema, offering correctives to historiographic gaps and foregrounding overlooked films, filmmakers, and institutions. They span a wide temporal range, from early Soviet era experimentation to post-Maidan documentary movements, and reflect diverse methodological approaches, including historical, philosophical, and political lenses. While these volumes do not replace the long-absent English language history of Ukrainian cinema, they provide a vital foundation for its future development. By amplifying Ukrainian voices and encouraging transnational dialogue, they reframe the field and ignite new directions for research and teaching.