Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors

Dir. Sergei Parajanov. 1965, 97 mins. 35mm. In Ukrainian with English subtitles. With Ivan Mykolaichuk, Larisa Kadochnikova, Tatyana Bestayeva. The great Armenian filmmaker Parajanov had been laboring in obscurity for a decade or more by the time he made his breakout film, a visionary folk romance that forewent the drab socialist realism of Soviet filmmaking orthodoxy for the heightened poetic realism of Tarkovsky and Pasolini. Set in the Carpathian Mountains among the Hutsul communities of western Ukraine, Parajanov’s film tells a Romeo and Juliet–like tale of star-crossed young lovers (Mykolaichuk and Kadochnikova) divided by a blood feud between their families. Featuring hypnotic use of color and some of the most astounding camera movement in film history, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors is a heady cinematic masterpiece. 

Tickets: $15 / $11 senior and students / $9 youth (ages 3–17) / discounted for MoMI members ($7–$11). Order tickets. Please pick up tickets at the Museum’s admissions desk upon arrival. All seating is general admission. Review safety protocols before your visit.