Oles Yanchuk

OLES YANCHUK On the eve of his 42nd birthday, Oles Yanchuk was awarded with a prestigious Presidential commendation - Accomplished Contributor to the Arts and Culture of Ukraine. Oles Yanchuk's work and efforts as a Director have been recognized worldwide, and his accomplishments are the exceptions to the problems plaguing the native film industry in post-Soviet Ukraine. Oles Yanchuk's debut as Director came in 1989 when he finished working on the short film "U daleku Put'" ("Taking Off"). The film was praised and received the Golden Trident Award at the Los Angeles Ukrainian Film Festival in 1990. Soon after, Oles Yanchuk began working on the full length feature film "Holod '33" ("Famine '33") detailing the horrific years of famine genocide impose on Ukraine by Stalin and his henchmen in the 1930's. Through the eyes of one family, Oles Yanchuk managed to capture the essence of the Ukrainian Holocaust with haunting realism. The film won the coveted Grand Prize at the National Film Festival held in Kyiv, Ukraine in 1991. Between 1992-93, the film was invited for screenings at the AFI International Film Festival (Los Angeles, Washington) and Film Forum in New York. By October 1995, Oles Yanchuk completed work on his second full-length feature, "Atentat" ("Assassination"), this time taking on the controversial topic of Ukraine and Ukrainians in the Second World War and its aftermath. Atentat continues to be shown throughout Ukraine, the United States and Canada. This film was also invited to a number of international film festivals, including the Gdansk International Film Festival (Poland), Karlovyj Var Film Festival (Czech Republic) and the Freedom Film Festival in Washington. In 1998, Atentat was screened at the International Film Festival in Los Angeles. Currently, Oles Yanchuk is working on his third full-length feature film "The Undefeated" a film detailing the life and times of General Roman Shukhevych who led the Ukrainian Insurgent Army in a war of liberation against both Stalin's Soviet Union and Hitler's Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1950. All of Oles Yanchuk's films have been produced at the Dovzhenko Film Studios in Kyiv, Ukraine, where he has been working since 1984. Oles Yanchuk is a graduate of the Kyiv Theatrical Institute and the Kyiv Photographical Institute. He was born in Kyiv, Ukraine on September 29, 1956 and grew up in the town of Faustiv, Kyiv region in the family of teachers. Oles Yanchuk currently lives and works in Kyiv and runs his own production studio Oles-Film at the Dovzhenko Film Studios. OLES YANCHUK On the eve of his 42nd birthday, Oles Yanchuk was awarded with a prestigious Presidential commendation - Accomplished Contributor to the Arts and Culture of Ukraine. Oles Yanchuk's work and efforts as a Director have been recognized worldwide, and his accomplishments are the exceptions to the problems plaguing the native film industry in post-Soviet Studios.