EVENINGS ON A FARM NEAR DIKANKA: Ukrainian Film Week at FOMO Cinema Tbilisi

Aleksandr Rou | 1961 | Soviet Union | 1h09m | Presented in the original Russian audio with English subtitles

EVENINGS ON A FARM NEAR DIKANKA turns Nikolai Gogol’s Ukrainian village folklore into a bright, comic winter fantasy full of devils, courtship, mischief and moonlit superstition. Set on Christmas Eve near the village of Dikanka, the film follows the blacksmith Vakula, who will do almost anything to win the affection of the proud and beautiful Oksana.

The problem, naturally, is the devil. Gogol’s world is full of bargains, tricks and strange interruptions from the supernatural, but the tone here stays playful rather than frightening. Rou stages the story as folk spectacle, with painted skies, theatrical sets, village songs, comic villains and a deep affection for the rituals and rhythms of rural life.

The film belongs to a long tradition of Soviet fairy-tale cinema, but its source material is unmistakably Ukrainian. Gogol drew heavily on the language, customs, humour and beliefs of the Ukrainian countryside, turning village life into a place where ordinary human vanity sits very close to the supernatural.

Screening after our HOW THE COSSACKS… animation block, EVENINGS ON A FARM NEAR DIKANKA continues Thursday’s Cossacks and Devils program with a lighter kind of folk magic before the night turns stranger with THE EVE OF IVAN KUPALO at 21:00.

You can also get a discounted double film pass for this film AND the Cossacks animations that screen before it by visiting the Cossacks & Devils Tickets page

FOOD AND DRINK POLICY: FOMO Cinema Lounge Bar opens 1 hour before the first screening of the day and closes at 02:00,.serving a wide selection of beer, wine, cocktails, and non-alcoholic refreshments including coffee and tea, as well as fresh hot popcorn! Outside food is allowed in the bar but not in the cinema. No alcohol from outside allowed. All guests are invited to arrive early and stay late!

LOCATION: FOMO Secret Cinema, Bazari Orbeliani, Tbilisi. A five minute walk from Liberty Square metro.

HOW TO FIND FOMO: Enter Bazari Orbeliani via Atoneli St above Carrefour and take the stairs on your left to Level 1. Signage on the door. You can also check our Instagram story highlights for a video showing exactly how to find us:
https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17933106294029235/