Cossacks in Exile

The second and final joint endeavor between filmmaker Edgar G. Ulmer and dancer-choreographer Vasyl Avramenko, Cossacks in Exile is a story of Ukrainians who refuse to submit to Russian authorities, and are then driven from their country.

Dancer-choreographer and passionate patriot Vasyl Avramenko dedicated his whole life to the promotion of Ukraine’s glorious folk dancing tradition. In 1925, after having impressed audiences in the Soviet – as well as the Polish ruled parts of Ukraine – with dazzling stage productions, Avramenko set out to conquer America’s hearts and minds. By the mid-30s, theatre was no longer enough: Avramenko wanted to make films. For this, he hired Edgar G. Ulmer who in those years kept his career going by making fiction features for culturally highly specific audiences, if necessary, in languages he didn’t speak – like Ukrainian.

Cossacks in Exile, based upon Semen Gulak-Artemovsʹkij’s eponymous 1863 opera, became their second and last joint endeavour – and what an enchanting, lively, exuberant one it turned out to be (especially considering the tight financial circumstances…)! From today’s point of view, it’s difficult to not see the current world situation in this film, as it talks about Ukrainians being driven out of their country for refusing to submit to Russian authorities…

– Olaf Möller

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