Ivan Mykolaychuk: “the soul of Ukrainian cinema”

The documentary film Ivan Mykolaychuk's Star is about the life and work of the Ukrainian actor.

Ivan Mykolaychuk was born on June 15, 1941, in the village of Chortorya, Chernivtsi region. He is a Ukrainian actor, film director, screenwriter, and writer. He was awarded the Shevchenko Prize in 1988 (posthumously). He played 34 film roles, wrote 9 screenplays, and has two directorial works. In the Ukrainian SSR, he was branded as “unreliable” and called the “soul of Ukrainian cinema.” Ivan Mykolaychuk died of cancer on August 3, 1987. He was buried at the Baikove Cemetery in Kyiv.

Interview: Larysa Kadochnykova, People's Artist of Ukraine; Maria Mykolaychuk, his wife; Serhiy Trymbach, film critic; Nina Matvienko, singer; Roman Balayan, film director.

The film uses fragments of the films Babylon XX, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, White Bird with Black Mark, The Missing Letter, The Commissars, The Book of Life, Secret Freedom, Self-Portrait, and black-and-white chronicles.