Krasna Malanka and Butter on the Latch

Butter on the Latch

With director Josephine Decker and actor Sarah Small in person

United States. Dir. Josephine Decker, 2013, 63 mins. With Isolde Chae-Lawrence, Sarah Small. After a personal breakdown, a Brooklyn performance artist and her friend head to California to become immersed in a rustic camp atmosphere and to learn folk music and dance. But the intended escape devolves into a psychosexual drama that pushes their friendship—and sanity—to the edge. Decker’s impressionistic approach to storytelling allows dreams and reality to come crashing together in an indistinguishable visual tumult of dance, environmental imagery, and wild-eyed fervor. 

Preceded by Krasna Malanka. With Skype introduction by director Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk. Ukraine. Dir. Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk. 2013, 45 mins. The Warden, the Bear, the Gypsy, the Devil, Grandpas and Grandmas, and Kings and Queens take over the village of Krasna in continued celebration of the pagan/Christian-hybrid, mid-winter Malanka holiday. Up-and-coming director Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk weaves together beautifully crafted animation and live-action footage in this up-close-and-personal portrait of a community and their rituals, founded on the inseparable bond between nature and human beings. (The traditions on view come from the same Ukrainian/Romanian Carpathian Mountain heritage depicted in Paradjanov’s Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors).

Tickets: $10 public / free for Museum members. Order tickets online or call 718 777 6800. For more information on membership and to join online, visit our membership page. A $27 Rural Route Festival pass is available for all screenings at the Museum. A $27 Rural Route Festival Pass is available for all programs taking place at the Museum. To guarantee access to individual screenings, Festival Pass holders may reserve tickets in advance by calling 718 777 6800 or emailing [email protected].