Donbas on Screen: Flower on the Stone

Originally titled No One Ever Loved Like This (with an alternative script title, Dawn in the Steppe), the film was initially helmed by director Anatoliy Slisarenko and starred the young Ukrainian film star Inna Burduchenko. Following her tragic death during production, Slisarenko was removed from the project. Serhiy Parajanov was brought in to save the production, developing a new script titled Faith. Hope. Love. He retained only 20% of the footage shot by his predecessor, shifted the story's focus, and rescued the project. The completed work, released under the title Flower on the Stone, credited only Parajanov.

During the Perestroika era, the film was often dismissed as the director's "lowest point." Over time, however, critical assessment of Parajanov's creative setback has been reevaluated. In her article "Cinematic Donbas of the 'Thaw' Era: Parajanov's 'Black' Film, or Milk for a Hero," cultural analyst and film theorist Olha Bryukhovetska argues that the movie is more complex than it might appear at first glance:

"...it was labeled 'drab,' 'pointless,' and 'unconvincing,' after which it sank into oblivion as just another primitive piece of topical anti-religious propaganda from the Khrushchev era. However, this Parajanov 'non-masterpiece' is compelling not only from the standpoint of the director's artistic evolution—having been made immediately before his first true masterpiece, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1964)—but also as an artifact of its time and its internal contradictions, effectively weaving together these two threads: the authorial and the historical."

The film was scanned by the Dovzhenko Centre Film Lab in 2023.

Donbas on Screen: Rethinking History, Memory, and War

The program examines how the image and myth of the Donbas were shaped and transformed in Ukrainian cinema during the first half of the 20th century. This retrospective helps bridge the gap between avant-garde enthusiasm for industrialization and a critical reflection on the Soviet legacy—from World War II to the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War. These films invite viewers to see the Donbas not as a periphery or a "gray zone," but as an integral part of Ukrainian history, culture, and the broader European experience.

Each screening will feature an introductory talk and discussion led by film expert Anna Onufriienko and external moderator, highlighting the historical context, film language, and contemporary significance of the works.

Anna Onufriienko is a cultural studies researcher, film historian, and curator specializing in Soviet cinema, visual propaganda, and cinematic representations of the Donbas region. From 2014 to 2022, she served as a film critic and programmer at the Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Centre, co-curating major retrospective projects like VUFKU. Lost & Found. Her work on Soviet and industrial media history includes co-editing the book Cinematographic Revision of Donbas (2015, 2018), co-editing the DVD set Chornobyl [in]Visible (2017), and co-directing the montage film project Atomopolis. Assembling Utopia (2016).

All descriptions and materials presented above are provided by the Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Centre (Dovzhenko Centre), a partner of these screenings.