Yuri Ilyenko
Yuri Herasymovych Ilyenko (18 July 1936 – 15 June 2010) was a Ukrainian film director, screenwriter, cinematographer and politician. He directed twelve films between 1965 and 2002.[2] His 1970 film The White Bird Marked with Black was entered into the 7th Moscow International Film Festival where it won the Golden Prize.[3] Ilyenko was one of Ukraine's most influential filmmakers. His films represented Ukraine and what was happening to it.
Also recorded as Yurii Illienko · Jurij Illjenko · Yuriy Illienko · Yuriy Herasymovych Illienko
Yuri Ilyenko

Участник:Russianname · Водник · ru:Файл:ВП Юрий Ильенко.jpg / Own work · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Born
- 1936. · Cherkasy.
- Died
- 2010. · Prokhorivka.
- Nationality
- Soviet Union and Ukraine.
- Occupation
- film director, camera operator, cinematographer, film screenwriter and politician.
- Fields
- film direction, film screenwriting and politics.
- Education
- Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography.
- Honours
- Order of Merit (Ukraine), 2nd class, People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR, Honored badge of merit of the President of Ukraine, Oleksandr Dovzhenko State Prize, Shevchenko National Prize and People's Artist of Ukraine.
- Languages
- Ukrainian and Russian.
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Documentary summary
Yuri Herasymovych Ilyenko (18 July 1936 – 15 June 2010) was a Ukrainian film director, screenwriter, cinematographer and politician. He directed twelve films between 1965 and 2002.[2] His 1970 film The White Bird Marked with Black was entered into the 7th Moscow International Film Festival where it won the Golden Prize.[3] Ilyenko was one of Ukraine's most influential filmmakers. His films represented Ukraine and what was happening to it.
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Note VALÉORINE
Yuri Ilyenko (1936–2010) was a Soviet and Ukrainian camera operator, cinematographer and film director, among other activities. Born in Cherkasy, the camera operator died in Prokhorivka.
Yuri Ilyenko studied at Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography. The camera operator was active in film direction, film screenwriting and politics.
Languages used include Russian and Ukrainian. Yuri Ilyenko received Oleksandr Dovzhenko State Prize, Order of Merit (Ukraine), 2nd class and People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR, among others.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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Authority files
wikidata · Q1532451 · wikipedia · Yuri Ilyenko
In this article
Biography
Biography
His films were banned in the USSR for their suspected anti-Soviet symbolism. Only in the recent years have his films been re-released and open to the public.[4]
Yuri Ilyenko studied at Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography. The recorded working language is Ukrainian and Russian. The field of work recorded is film direction, film screenwriting and politics. Distinctions recorded are Order of Merit (Ukraine), 2nd class, People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR, Honored badge of merit of the President of Ukraine and Oleksandr Dovzhenko State Prize.
Ilyenko was born in Cherkasy in 1936 but during World War II his family was evacuated to Siberia while his father was in the Red Army.[5] He graduated high school in Moscow and Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography in 1960. From 1960 till 1963 he worked as a director of photography at the Yalta Film Studio. In 1963 Ilyenko started his work as an operator and then a director at Dovzhenko Film Studios. His 1965 film A Spring for the Thirsty (written by Ivan Drach) and 1968 film Vechir Na Ivan Kupala were both banned by the Soviet authorities till 1988. His 1971 film The White Bird Marked with Black, received the grand prize of the Moscow International Film Festival, but at the 24th Congress of the Communist Party of Ukraine the film was (also) banned and branded "the most harmful movie that has ever been made in Ukraine, specifically for young people". His next film, To dream and to live (written in collaboration with Ivan Mykolaichuk), was stopped 42 times at various stages of production. Ilyenko then emigrated to Yugoslavia, where he shot the film To live in spite of everything. The film won "Silver" at Pula Film Festival and the prize for best actor. In the Ukrainian SSR, the picture was not allowed to be shown. His 1983 film Lisova pisnia. Mavka won the FIPRESCI Prize. In 1987 he received the title of People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR. He created the independent film studio Fest-Zemlya, where he made the first non-state film in Ukraine. His 1990 film "Swan Lake "The Zone"" again won the FIPRESCI Prize. In 1991 and 1992 he was Chairman of the Ukrainian Cinema Foundation. in 1991 he was awarded the Shevchenko National Prize. His 1994 documentary about Sergei Parajanov received the "Golden Knight" at the film festival Cinema City. In 1996 he became a member of the Academy of Arts of Ukraine. His 2002 film A Prayer for Hetman Mazepa was banned from rental in Russia. • Illustration — Yuri Ilyenko remembrance monument in Cherkasy In the 2007 parliamentary elections he was placed second on the election list of All-Ukrainian Union "Svoboda", but at that election the party received 0.76% of the votes cast and did not make it to parliament.[6] He died of cancer on 15 June 2010 at the age of 74.
Family
Family
He was a member of the Communist Party since 1973, but changed his political position after the end of the USSR.[8] Ilyenko was married to the fellow director Lyudmyla Yefymenko[9] and had two sons, Andriy Ilyenko (born 1987) and (also film actor and producer) Pylyp Illenko (born 1977). During the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election Pylyp was № 122 on the election list of "Svoboda" and Andriy was electable as a candidate for the same party in single mandate constituency № 215; Andriy was elected into parliament and Pylyp was not.[10]
Selected filmography
Selected filmography
• Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, cinematographer (1965) • A Spring for the Thirsty, director (1965) • The Eve of Ivan Kupala, director (1968) • The White Bird Marked with Black, director (1970) • Swan Lake "The Zone", director (1990) • A Prayer for Hetman Mazepa, director, actor (2002)
Identity and origins
Identity and origins
The authorities additionally record the headings Yurii Illienko, Jurij Illjenko, Yuriy Illienko and Yuriy Herasymovych Illienko. His recorded languages were Ukrainian and Russian. 2 children are recorded: Andriy Illenko and Pylyp Illienko.

This is a photo of a monument in Ukraine, number: wrong Id:71-220-fakeID
Віктор

Юрій Герасимович Іллєнко на ХХ з'їзді ВО «Свобода».
ВО «Свобода»'s Picasa Gallery · ХХ З'їзд ВО «Свобода»
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
2010
Yuri Ilyenko died at Prokhorivka.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Cherkasy.
Birth place
Prokhorivka.
Death place
Where the work is held
Recognition and collections
Yuri Ilyenko received Order of Merit (Ukraine), 2nd class, People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR, Honored badge of merit of the President of Ukraine, Oleksandr Dovzhenko State Prize, Shevchenko National Prize and People's Artist of Ukraine.
Literature
Literature
The Film «Against all Odds» by Yuri Ilyenko at the Crossroads of Cultures, Slavianovedenie, 2023
References ==== External links
References ==== External links
*
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Committee for the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine.
- 2.Peter Rollberg. Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema. Rowman & Littlefield. 286–287. 2009. 978-0-8108-6072-8.
- 3.7th Moscow International Film Festival (1971). MIFF.
- 4.Sandra Brennan. Yuriy Illienko Biography. The New York Times.
- 5.Biography Yuriy Illienko , Korrespondent.net
- 6.Biography of Yuriy Illienko, RIA Novosti (15 June 2010)
- 7.Всеукраїнське об'єднання «Свобода», Database ASD
- 8.ИЛЬЕНКО Юрий Герасимович - это. Что такое ИЛЬЕНКО Юрий Герасимович?.
- 9.Illienko Brothers, Welcome to Ukraine (January 2000)
- 10.Biography Andriy Illienko, Golos.ua (4 April 2013)
- 11.Election list of "Svoboda" 2012 election, Central Election Commission of Ukraine
- 12.Party of Regions gets 185 seats in Ukrainian parliament, Batkivschyna 101 - CEC , Interfax-Ukraine (12 November 2012)
References
Citations
References
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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