A Story of the Forest: Mavka

Mavka, a water nymph, loves Lukash, a country youth. Their brief happiness ends when Lukash is forced to marry the shrewish Kilina. The Spirit of the Forest turns Lukash into a wolf as punishment for his infidelity. The strength of Mavka's love breaks the spell, but Kilina curses the nymph, transforming her into a weeping willow. This beautiful and tragic story is based on a play written in 1912 by Lesya Ukrainka, a Ukrainian poet, writer and political, civil and female activist, and includes mythological characters taken from Ukrainian folklore.

• Yurii IllienkoDirector
• Yurii IllienkoScreenplay
• Yevhen StankovychOriginal Music Composer

• Lyudmila EfimenkoMavka
• Viktor KremlevLukash
• Maya BulgakovaLukash’s Mother
• Ivan MykolaichukUncle Leo / Wood Goblin
• Boris KhmelnitskyRed (forest) Demon
• Viktor DemertashKoots
• Liudmyla LobzaKylyna
• Nina ShatskayaWater Sprite
• Svetlana SergeyevaMeadow Fairy
• Ivan KhodulinKylyna’s child
• Pylyp IllienkoKylyna’s child
• Vladimir FyodorovHunger Imps