Media Centre (room 142), Raised Faculty Building, Faculty Modern Medieval Languages, Sedgwick Site, Cambridge

Free

Cambridge University Ukrainian Society with the support of Cambridge Ukrainian Studies invite to attend the screening ‘Quiet in Odessa’, documentary by New York-based director Dmitry Khavin.

In the aftermath of the Ukraine’s Euromaidan revolution and violent clashes between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian supporters in Odessa on May 2, Jewish residents of Odessa tell stories of their newly found patriotism and share their thoughts on how recent events have affected the community and the city. Through a series of interviews with the members of the Jewish community the film delves into the history of Jews in Odessa, assimilation, immigration and the issues of identity. There is a portrait of the family who contemplates leaving Odessa for Israel in the aftermath of Euromaidan, fearing that “history repeats itself,” but choosing to stay for the love of their city. There is a humorous expose of men in a bathhouse chewing over the future of their country in the new light of political unrest. Another scene takes the viewers inside Odessa EuroMaidan and introduces members of the Self-Defense Brigade, where a Ukrainian, a Georgian and a Jew are fighting side by side, all for various and, yet similar causes.

Q&A with film director Dmitry Khavin via skype-connection from New York.