“Kira Muratova: Scenographies of Chaos”

Film at Lincoln Center and Faktura 10, a core initiative of RIBBON International, announce “Kira Muratova: Scenographies of Chaos,” a retrospective of the acclaimed Ukrainian filmmaker whose career spanned from the early 1960s to her death in 2018. Running from May 16 through May 25, the series will celebrate Muratova’s wholly idiosyncratic vision, and opens with her signature work, The Asthenic Syndrome, presented in a new 4K restoration made possible by Janus Films. Comprising 16 films, the retrospective will feature a robust selection of Muratova’s greatest directorial achievements.

“Kira Muratova: Scenographies of Chaos” offers a rare opportunity to explore the complete body of work of the acclaimed Odesan filmmaker who remained largely unknown to American audiences during her lifetime and has only recently come into widespread international acclaim. Muratova is now widely considered the greatest Ukrainian filmmaker of the last half century—and arguably one of the most influential women directors in cinema history. Deeply fascinated by eccentric characters and linguistic deviations, Muratova honed a distinctive style characterized by surreal and unexpected repetitions, refracting the experience of an unstable reality by way of outré storytelling devices. Caustic and misanthropic in life, Muratova nevertheless was touchingly humanistic in her films, radiating childish wonder, defiant hope, and sparkling irony. 

Subject to extensive censorship by Soviet state and film commissions throughout the 1970s and ’80s, with repeated directives to heavily re-edit completed works, Muratova continued to write and direct films despite dire financial conditions and challenges to distribution. She also refused to put her name on her work when the studio’s extensive editing obfuscated her original voice. When censorship kept Muratova from working independently as a director, she accepted menial duties at the Odesa Film Studio.

Muratova was banned from filmmaking for almost 15 years after her two early masterpieces, Brief Encounters (1967) and The Long Farewell (1971), were condemned as un-Soviet by official censors. She fully returned to work and began to receive wider recognition when her once-shelved works were returned to public circulation under perestroika. Her genius would fully come into focus only in the context of an independent Ukraine, where she enjoyed greater creative freedom and acknowledgment. In the post-Soviet period, her films resonated with audiences and critics who respected Muratova’s unorthodox approach to the sociopolitical conventions and rituals of a society in transformation. Her greatest critical recognition came with The Asthenic Syndrome (1989), about a condition that causes people to sleep at the moment they are made to suffer, which won the Silver Bear Jury Grand Prix at the Berlinale.

A panel organized by Faktura 10 and dedicated to a discussion around Kira Muratova’s critical filmmaking will be held on Saturday, May 17, from 1–3pm at the Ukrainian Institute of America at 2 E. 79th Street. For further information visit faktura10.org. 

Tickets on sale as of Thursday, April 17. Access period for FLC Members starting at noon. Tickets are USD 17; 14 for students, seniors (62+), and persons with disabilities; and 12 for FLC Members. See more and save with a 99 USD All Access Pass (79 for Students) or a 3+ Film Package applied at checkout (15 USD for GP; 12 for students, seniors (62+), and persons with disabilities; and 10 for FLC Members).

“Kira Muratova: Scenographies of Chaos” is co-curated by Marta Kuzma, Professor of Art at the Yale School of Art and Chief Curator of Faktura 10, and film scholar and writer Ivan Kozlenko, in cooperation with The Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Centre, Kyiv, and co-organized by Madeline Whittle. The retrospective is a part of Faktura 10, a core initiative of RIBBON International, co-presented with Janus Films.

For press inquiries regarding Film at Lincoln Center, please contact:
John Kwiatkowski, Film at Lincoln Center, JKwiatkowski [​at​] filmlinc.org
Eva Tooley, Film at Lincoln Center, ETooley [​at​] filmlinc.org 

For press inquiries regarding Faktura 10 and RIBBON International, please contact:
Elise Bell, Scott & Co, elise [​at​] scott-andco.com