Poem of the Sea

Director: Yulia Solntseva

1958 / 105min / 35mm

Based on a script left behind by Dovzhenko at his death, Poem of the Sea was finally filmed by his widow, Solntseva, a formidable filmmaker in her own right, her stated intention to work wholly “in accordance with Dovzhenko’s artistic conception, putting aside every trace of my own individual vision.” A companion piece of sorts to Ivan, likewise dealing with the construction of a dam and its impact on the surrounding countryside—in particular one soon-to-be-submerged village, birthplace of one General Fedorchenko (Boris Livanov), whose arrival for a visit in its final days stirs long-dormant memories. The feat of civil engineering documented here is the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, opened in 1956 and destroyed by Russian forces in 2023, with catastrophic ecological results.

35mm SovScope print courtesy of Austrian Filmmuseum, Vienna

Part of Oleksandr Dovzhenko: Earth and Empire