Orange Winter (film)
Encyclopedia
Orange Winter is a 2007 feature documentary
by an independent Ukrainian
-American filmmaker Andrei Zagdansky
. The documentary deals with the fraudulent presidential election
in Ukraine
in November 2004 and ensuing days of mass protest, known as the Orange Revolution
. In the center of the film are not the political figures, but the "Maidan", literally "square" or "forum" in Ukrainian, the impromptu community of orange clad protesters. After two weeks of protests the Maidan forced authorities to cancel results of the rigged election and to set up a new election. The opposition candidate Victor Yushchenko won the run-off election and became the president of Ukraine.
While the movie chronicles the first two crucial weeks of the political chaos and civil disobedience in the country, director intertwines scenes from the streets with two opera performances Boris Godunov
and La traviata
staged during the same time in the City Opera House.
Another cultural reference used in the film is Ukrainian silent classic Earth
(1930) by Alexander Dovzhenko
which is:
Documentary
A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...
by an independent Ukrainian
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
-American filmmaker Andrei Zagdansky
Andrei Zagdansky
Andrei Zagdansky is an American and Russian/Ukrainian independent documentary filmmaker.-Biography:Zagdansky attended Kiev State Institute of Theatrical Arts, graduating in 1979. He worked as a film director for Kievnauchfilm studio in Kiev from 1981 through 1988, and at film studio Thursday from...
. The documentary deals with the fraudulent presidential election
Election
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
in November 2004 and ensuing days of mass protest, known as the Orange Revolution
Orange Revolution
The Orange Revolution was a series of protests and political events that took place in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005, in the immediate aftermath of the run-off vote of the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election which was claimed to be marred by massive corruption, voter...
. In the center of the film are not the political figures, but the "Maidan", literally "square" or "forum" in Ukrainian, the impromptu community of orange clad protesters. After two weeks of protests the Maidan forced authorities to cancel results of the rigged election and to set up a new election. The opposition candidate Victor Yushchenko won the run-off election and became the president of Ukraine.
Orange Winter is more than a mere history lesson. Like Norman MailerNorman MailerNorman Kingsley Mailer was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and film director.Along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Hunter S...
's nonfiction novel The Armies of the Night... this movie characterizes a body politic as a living thing, and charts its internal changes as if it were the protagonist in a drama". Matt Zoller Seitz, The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
While the movie chronicles the first two crucial weeks of the political chaos and civil disobedience in the country, director intertwines scenes from the streets with two opera performances Boris Godunov
Boris Godunov (opera)
Boris Godunov is an opera by Modest Mussorgsky . The work was composed between 1868 and 1873 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is Mussorgsky's only completed opera and is considered his masterpiece. Its subjects are the Russian ruler Boris Godunov, who reigned as Tsar during the Time of Troubles,...
and La traviata
La traviata
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
staged during the same time in the City Opera House.
Another cultural reference used in the film is Ukrainian silent classic Earth
Earth (1930 film)
Earth is a 1930 Soviet film by Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko, concerning an insurrection by a community of farmers, following a hostile takeover by Kulak landowners...
(1930) by Alexander Dovzhenko
Alexander Dovzhenko
Aleksandr Petrovich Dovzhenko , was a Soviet screenwriter, film producer and director of Ukrainian descent. He is often cited as one of the most important early Soviet filmmakers, alongside Sergei Eisenstein and Vsevolod Pudovkin.- Biography :...
which is:
"...invoked as a classic example of Ukrainian revolution... this artistic juxtaposition lends its portrayed events an appropriately mythic tinge"
Rob Humanick, Slant magazine.
Credits
- Directed and edited by Andrei Zagdansky
- Narration written by Alexander Genis
- Narrator Matthew Gurewitsch
- Original score by Alexander GoldsteinAlexander GoldsteinAlexander Goldstein , also credited as Aleksandr Goldshteyn and Aleksandr Goldstein in films, is a Russian-American music composer, conductor, songwriter, record producer, film producer, director, editor and is the founder of ABG World and SportMusic.com...
- Cameramen Vladimir Guevsky,Igor Ivanov, Pavel Kazantzev
- Produced by Andrei Zagdansky and Gleb Sinyavsky
- © 2006 AZ Films LLC.
Awards
- Special Mention Award, "Punto de Vista" International Documentary Film Festival 2007, Pamplona, (Spain)
- Jury's Choice Award, First prize, the 27th Black Maria Film & Video Festival.
External links
- Orange Winter on AZ Films website
- "The Color of Dissent" by Matt Zoller Seitz, The New York Times
- "Ukraine's Winter of Discontent" by Bruce Bennett, New York Sun
- "Orange Winter" by Joe Leydon, Variety
- "Orange Winter" by Rob Humanick, Slant