On 19 November 2025, a webinar entitled ‘The Creativity of Ivan Mykolaychuk in the Challenges of Our Time’ was held. It was the fourteenth event in a series of educational webinars and online guest lectures entitled ‘The Flower of Ukrainian Pedagogy: Present and Past.’
The speaker was Svitlana Kyryliuk, Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Ukrainian Literature at Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, member of the National Union of Cinematographers of Ukraine.
The event was moderated by Nataliia Filipchuk, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Senior Research Fellow, Leading Research Fellow at the Department of Content and Technologies of Pedagogical Education at the Ivan Ziazun Institute of Pedagogical Education and Training of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine, and the main initiator of the series.
Organiser: Department of Content and Technologies of Pedagogical Education, Ivan Ziazun Institute of Pedagogical Education and Adult Education, National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine.
Co-organisers: UNESCO Chair ‘Continuing Professional Education in the 21st Century’, National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine; Centre for Continuing Digital Education.
More than 160 participants took part in the webinar, including teachers, students, representatives of public organisations and anyone interested in Ukrainian cinema and cultural heritage. Representatives from more than 10 educational institutions in Ukraine joined the event.
Among the participants, the webinar was also attended by representatives of the Kyiv National University of Technologies and Design – lecturers Alla Semenova, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor, Head of the Department of POSTD, Inna Kosyak, Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor, Associate Professor of the Department of POSTD, Alona Tykhomirova, Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Senior Lecturer of the Department of POSTD, as well as students Viktoria Stetsyuk (BPT-22) and Daria Bilotska (MgPT-25).
Ms. Svitlana presented a profound, emotional, and at the same time scientifically grounded lecture on the life and work of Ivan Mykolaychuk (1941–1987), an actor, director, and screenwriter whom Serhiy Paradzhanov called ‘the number one Ukrainian genius.’ The discussion focused not only on his films, but also on the broader cultural context: why Mykolaichuk's work is particularly important today, and how it helps to restore Ukrainian identity at a time of national challenges.
The lecturer emphasised the influence of the artist's family and ethnocultural environment, talked about his studies at the Kyiv Institute of Theatre Arts, his first works in the theatre, and his film debut with Leonid Osyka. Special attention was paid to the formation of Mykolaichuk's authorial style, which combines authenticity, metaphoricality, musicality, and psychological depth.
Svitlana Kyryliuk emphasised that in the 2020s, Mykolaichuk's work is once again gaining exceptional significance, as his films:
Webinar participants noted the depth of analysis, the novelty of the facts presented and the emotional impact of the lecture. Oksana Ivasiuk, sister of Volodymyr Ivasiuk, who was one of Ivan Mykolaychuk's closest friends, gave a short speech. She emphasised that the event was a real cultural journey that takes us back to our roots and helps us look at the present in a new way.
In her concluding remarks, moderator Natalia Filipchuk drew attention to the important contribution of Maria Mykolaychuk, the artist's wife and a well-known singer, member of the legendary vocal trio ‘Zoloti Klyuchi’ (Golden Keys).
15.12.2025
