An opportunistic Kyivan Apollon Shmyguyev, whose peaceful bourgeois life is interrupted by the civil war, decides to wait out the trouble in the South of Ukraine, which is under the rule of the Russian White Army. After gathering left off goods on Andriyivskyi descent in Kyiv, he goes on a journey with a camel, which somehow had strayed to his house. In the midway he is stopped by the Red Army: the camel gets confiscated for the needs of revolution, and Apollon appears in the disposal of the Bolshevik commissar. Zealous and cunning, Apollon quickly takes lead of the local commissariat. But the engrained thirst for a profit once again puts his life in danger.
Restored recently this year, "The Self-seeker" used to be banned from screening for anti-Soviet sarcasm. Its single remaining copy was discovered in the State Film Archive of Russian Federation thanks to the small note in writings of Osip Mandelstam.
This grotesque lampoon of Soviet authorities, compared to its contemporary propaganda flicks, proves to be a highly artistic film as well as a manifesto.
The renovated silent film is to be screened at the festival's Grand Opening Ceremony to the accompaniment of Kyiv-Classic symphonic orchestra under Herman Makarenko's conduction. Musical accompaniment to the film was written by Vyacheslav Nazarov who created soundtracks for dozens of Ukrainian movies.
Screening is organised by Dovzhenko National Centre.
Source: www.molodist.com
