with the empress. In the last scene, he wishes the little boy to have a loyal horse, an open field, and always be at people's service. The scene is accompanied by the triumphant Cossack march of the Ukrainian folkloric song about Sahaidachny. Cast Ivan Mykolaichuk - cossack Vasyl Lidia Vakula - cossack's wife, the empress Fedir Stryhun - zaporozhets Andriy, cossack's partner Zemfira Tsakhilova - Odarka, baroness von Likhtenberg Mykhailo Holubovych - evil man (the role voiced actor Pavel Morozenko) He's seen on the background of the photo as the owner of the inn (, korchmar) in the episode. Volodymyr Hlukhyi - weird man Vasyl Symchych - cossack's father Anatoliy Barchuk - cossack Ivan Volodymyr Shakalo - cossack Petro Maria Kapnist - witch Administrative issues The film was supposed to be directed by Viktor Hres, featuring Anatoly Papanov in the lead role. However, when Hres became suddenly ill, he offered it to Borys Ivchenko. The latter agreed on the condition that the main role would be given to Ivan Mykolaychuk. The script was remade and the movie was filmed in 1972 at the Dovzhenko Film Studios. However, Soviet censors banned it from being screened. Nevertheless, in 1973 the Bureau of Soviet Cinematography Propaganda in Moscow published 50 thousand pamphlets with images of Ivan Mykolaychuk in the role of Cossack Vasyl. The movie was finally released after the fall of the Soviet Union. It received the Golden Pagoda Award during the movie festival in Bangkok (see Cinema of Thailand). All the songs in the movie were contributed by Ivan Mykolaychuk, who also helped Ivan Drach write the movie's script. See also The Lost Letter: A Tale Told by the Sexton of the N...Church (1831), by Mykola Hohol. The Lost Letter (1945), a Soviet, Russian-language cartoon filmed in Moscow. Annychka (1968), another film by Borys Ivchenko. Cinema of Ukraine Dovzhenko Film Studios References Links Brief overview at The New York Times as Propavshaya Gramota Some cast info Dovzhenko Film Studios films 1970s fantasy films Soviet fantasy films Ukrainian fantasy films Tragicomedy films Soviet-era Ukrainian films Ukrainian-language films Films based on works by Nikolai Gogol