Changes in the representation of heroes in contemporary Ukrainian cinema

Abstract

This article examines current trends in the changing concept of the hero in recent Ukrainian cinema and the related tendency to neglect authentic Ukrainian culture on account of the pervasive influence of Western traditions in cinema. The article employs various, academic methods of art criticism: literary and film analysis, comparison, synthesis, analogy and typologisation. Analysing several films from the period of independent Ukraine, Cyborgs: Heroes Never Die (2017, dir. Akhtem Seitablayev), Sniper. The White Raven (2022, dir. Marian Bushan) and Klondike (2022, dir. Maryna Er Gorbach), the authors show that the depiction of Ukrainian film heroes depends on contemporary local events. The contemporary hero of Ukrainian cinema emerges as an ambiguous figure.