Special Issues on Ukrainian Cinema

Abstract

This review essay examines four recent English-language special journal issues that mark a significant turn in Ukrainian film scholarship. Cinema: Journal of Philosophy and the Moving Image, vol. 15, no. 1, December 2023, eds. Mariia Lihus and Patricia Castello Branco; Studies in World Cinema, vol. 4, no. 2, September 2024, ed. Dina Iordanova; Slavic and East European Journal, vol. 68, no. 3, Fall 2024, ed. Ana Hedberg Olenina;  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 are not a substitute for the long-absent, much-needed English language history of Ukrainian cinema, they do 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. This is a revised version of the review essay originally published on December 21, 2025, which covered three special issues but regrettably did not include the significant contribution to Ukrainian cinema studies made by the special issue of Studies in World Cinema. The present article adds a review of that issue, incorporates new visual material, and includes minor revisions to the original text.