The Ukrainian Time Machine

When I made a film, several years ago, which critically portrayed immigrants in the United States, it was suggested to me that I had no idea of what the immigrant experience was, not having experienced it myself. So, I decided to recreate the journey of my great grandparents’ immigration to America one hundred years ago, in reverse. I moved to a small village near the Ukrainian city of Uman. This series of films reflects the elasticity of time that I found there, with villagers living much as they did when my family left.
Kalendar starts with the concept of language acquisition and illustrates the meaning of the months of the year in the Ukrainian calendar with images from the natural world. Clay draws a connection between the relationship of the Trypillian people (ca. 3000 BC) to the clay and soil and the relationship of present day brick factory workers to this same material. On This Day examines my personal relationship to the subject, and reveals a secret I had kept hidden during the making of the film. Unnamed Film, the central work of the cycle, frames and holds together the other films of the cycle, portraying the village, its inhabitants and their relationship to me as a filmmaker. (Naomi Uman)