We just got an email about this film that sounds pretty cool. LIGHT FROM THE EAST, shot in the former USSR 1991, will be having a limited theatrical release in NY at the PIONEER THEATER (East 3rd St. and the corner of Ave. A) from May 11-17th. The film follows the first cultural exchange theater project between the US and Russia at the end of the cold war and tells the story of a dissident Ukrainian theater director who was a pioneer of experimental theater and was murdered in one of Stalin’s purges.

Here’s the blurb:
1991. Glasnost. Perestroika. The Soviet Union opens its doors to the West. A troupe of young American actors from La Mama Theater in NY travels to Kiev to participate in the first American/Ukrainian cultural exchange theater project in history. The play they are to perform is based on the life of Les Kurbas, a revolutionary Ukrainian theatre director who was murdered in one of Stalin’s purges. Two weeks into their trip, Gorbachev is kidnapped, the Kremlin is overthrown by a military coup and the entire USSR is plunged into volatile uncertainty. As rehearsals progress, the play ironically begins to mirror action in the streets. Kurbas and his company struggled to make art during the revolution that ushered in Communism; the international troupe performs the life of Kurbas as the walls of Communism come tumbling down. During the massive political changes of 1991, including the fall of Communism and the Ukraine declaring its national independence, LIGHT FROM THE EAST takes viewers on a philosophical inquiry into the meaning of freedom.

And here’s quotes:

“Personal, political, historical…I loved It.”
– Richard Linklater , director of BEFORE SUNRISE and BEFORE SUNSET

“Beautifully captures the spirit of the former Soviet Union and the soul of its people.”
– Albert Maysles

“After the recent, quiet Revolution in Ukraine, this movie is almost a must see as it uses a cultural exchange theater project for the focal point of examining a people who despite political realities are driven by dreams that become realities.”
– Louis Black, Publisher, AUSTIN CHRONICLE