Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
A towering achievement of world cinema, Sergei Parajanov’s modernist landmark fuses folkloric traditions, animistic mysticism, and hallucinatory visual invention. Adapted from a 1911 novella by Ukrainian writer Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors follows Ivanko (Ivan Mykolaichuk), a young Hutsul peasant who experiences both the depths of grief and glimmers of hope as he attempts to move beyond his first love, Marichka (an ethereal Larysa Kadochnykova). Steeped in the earthy atmosphere of the Carpathian Mountains, and featuring kinetic, radiantly colorful cinematography by Yuri Illienko and a collagelike experimental soundtrack, Parajanov’s film is a singularly mythopoeic work of art.
4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- New 4K digital restoration by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
- New audio commentary featuring historian Joshua First
- New introduction by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project founder Martin Scorsese
- New interview with actor Larysa Kadochnykova
- The Lilac Wind of Paradjanov (2025), a feature documentary by Ali Khamraev
- Shadowsur (2026), an experimental short film by Martiros Vartanov about director Sergei Parajanov’s son
- New English subtitle translation
- PLUS: An essay by critic Carmen Gray
New cover by Jason Hardy
4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- New 4K digital restoration by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
- New audio commentary featuring historian Joshua First
- New introduction by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project founder Martin Scorsese
- New interview with actor Larysa Kadochnykova
- The Lilac Wind of Paradjanov (2025), a feature documentary by Ali Khamraev
- Shadowsur (2026), an experimental short film by Martiros Vartanov about director Sergei Parajanov’s son
- New English subtitle translation
- PLUS: An essay by critic Carmen Gray
New cover by Jason Hardy
Cast
- Ivan Mykolaichuk
- Ivanko
- Larysa Kadochnykova
- Marichka
- Tatyana Bestayeva
- Palahna
- Spartak Bagashvili
- Yura
- Mykola Hrynko
- Chief shepherd
- Leonid Yengibarov
- Myko
- Oleksandr Hai
- Ivanko’s father
- Nina Alisova
- Ivanko’s mother
- Oleksandr Raidanov
- Marichka’s father
- Neonila Gnepovskaya
- Marichka's mother
- Igor Dzyura
- Young Ivanko
- Valentyna Hlynko
- Young Marichka
Credits
- Director
- Sergei Parajanov
- Screenplay by
- Sergei Parajanov
- Screenplay by
- Ivan Chendej
- Based on the novel by
- Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi
- Director of photography
- Yuri Illienko
- Editor
- Maria Ponomarenko
- Composer
- Myroslav Skoryk
- Assistant director
- Volodymyr Luhovskyi
- Assistant camera
- Volodymyr Davydov
- Sound
- Sofiya Sergiyenko
- Production design
- Mikhail Rakovskiy
- Production design
- Heorhiy Yakutovych
- Set decorator
- Pyotr Maksimenko
- Costumes
- Lidiya Bajkova
- Makeup
- Volodymyr Shikin
- Artistic consultant
- Fedir Manailo
A scene from Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
