In January 2026, the French Cinémathèque will present, for the first time, a major retrospective of one of the most remarkable filmmakers of the 20th century, Oleksandr Dovzhenko.
The event will take place as part of the Ukraine Season in France, “Voyage to Ukraine,” with the support of the Dovzhenko Centre. The retrospective is organized by the Ukrainian Institute and its representation in France (Institut ukrainien en France).
Lyric and exalted, Dovzhenko’s cinema—particularly his legendary Ukrainian trilogy Earth, Arsenal, and Zvenyhora—celebrates nature, the passage of time, life and death, and the eternal connection between humans and the land. Despite historical upheavals and repression by the Stalinist regime, Dovzhenko created a unique cinematic language that combined poetry, myth, and political expression. As critic Barthélémy Amengual wrote, he “did not reproduce reality—he proclaimed it,” and his cinema became an instrument for reviving the epic, legendary tradition.
The retrospective program combines screenings of landmark films, lectures, panel discussions, and cinema concerts with live musical accompaniment. Special events will include a screening of Earth with music by DakhaBrakha and Arsenal with music by Nova Materia. The films will be presented by Ukrainian film scholars Olena Honcharuk, Anna Onufrienko, and Alona Penzij.
Oleksandr Dovzhenko’s retrospective offers an opportunity to showcase classic Ukrainian cinema in an international context and to rediscover an artist whose work remains modern and relevant today.
The Season is jointly organized by the French Institute in Ukraine (Institut français d’Ukraine) and the Ukrainian Institute, under the patronage of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, with the support of the Ministries of Culture of both countries and the Office of the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska.
