Senior Research Fellow at the M. T. Rylsky Institute of Art Studies, Folklore and Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, film critic and screenwriter, corresponding member of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine Serhiy Trymbach shared his impressions of receiving the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine in an interview with Suspilne and talked about his work on the book "Ivan Mykolaichuk. Mysteries of Fate," for which he was awarded this prize.
The award ceremony took place on March 9 – on Taras Shevchenko's birthday. Commenting on this event, Serhiy Trymbach admitted that such recognition was unexpected for him.
"This is recognition I never even dreamed of. When I was even nominated, I thought: 'Well, maybe I'll make it to the final.' Such an evaluation is important to me also because it can encourage young talented people to enter this profession," he noted.
The scholar emphasized the important role of film criticism in the development of culture. According to him, criticism helps to form a broader cultural context and to comprehend the development of cinematography.
In the interview, he paid special attention to the figure of the Ukrainian actor, director, and screenwriter Ivan Mykolaichuk, to whom his book is dedicated. According to the researcher, his acquaintance with Mykolaichuk took place while working on an interview for one of the leading film magazines of that time and became an important event in his professional life. It was then that he began to delve deeper into the phenomenon of Ukrainian poetic cinema.
Serhiy Trymbach also noted that today interest in the figure of Ivan Mykolaichuk is gradually growing, but in Ukrainian society this figure still requires broader understanding and popularization.
The conversation also touched on the current state of Ukrainian cinematography. In the researcher's opinion, despite the difficult conditions of war, Ukrainian cinema continues to develop and discover new names. He specifically mentioned the works of directors Oles Sanin and Pavlo Ostrikov, and also emphasized the growing role of documentary cinema. As an example of international success, he cited the film "20 Days in Mariupol" by Mstyslav Chernov, which won an Oscar.
At the same time, according to Trymbach, for the full development of the film industry, Ukraine needs larger production volumes and stable support from the state and producer structures. This is especially important in the conditions of information warfare, when culture and cinema remain important tools for shaping national identity.
In a conversation with journalists, the scholar also recalled his small homeland – the city of Oleksandriia in Kirovohrad region, where he was born, and emphasized that this region largely shaped him as a person.
Read the full interview on the Suspilne website.