Ukrainians in Quebec. Documentary Premieres in Montreal

Montreal -  The premiere of the re-mastered in DVD documentary Ukrainians in Quebec 1891-1945 was held at Montreal’s St Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church Conference Room on Sunday, February 13.  The screening, preceded by a coffee & sweets reception organized by Mrs. Liubomyra Lewycka, marked the 120th anniversary of Ukrainian immigration to Canada (1891-2011).

Parish Priest the Rev. Ihor Oshchipko welcomed all present and introduced the filmmaker Yurij Luhovy, stressing the necessity of recording history and noting how documentary films serve to pass on knowledge to present and future generations.

In his remarks, Yurij Luhovy spoke about the background of making the original 16mm film in the 1970s. He mentioned the difficulty in finding materials relating to the history of Ukrainians in Montreal and Quebec as there is no central library or archives in the Montreal Ukrainian community.  

For this film, narrated by Yarema Kelebay, over 300 photos were eventually selected and animated in re-creating the history of Ukrainians in Quebec. To reproduce each photo, Luhovy had to create a make-shift animation table, since his shoe-string budget did not permit renting an electronic animation stand.  Photos were located in basements of various organizations, churches and private collections.  Copies, enlargements, and filming of the photos were done in his home dark-room before returning them. Digital cameras did not exist then, which would have made copying easier.

The filmmaker mentioned how Volododymyr Lewyckyj, a then-member of the parish, annotated the 16mm rolls and wrote in key codes from the negative to prepare the film for neg[ative] cutting.  Often, short ends of the film were used because the budget would not allow for big film reels, making the laborious task even longer.

To enable public showing, the 16mm film was transferred to DVD. But not before another set back was overcome; the lab, where the film was kept over the years, lost the interneg[atives] and interpos[itives].  Fortunately, Yurij still had the negative of the original film.  The transfer to DVD was funded in part by the Shevchenko Foundation and the Spirit Lake Corporation.

As also mentioned by Luhovy, Ukrainians in Quebec was originally intended to consist of two parts. The first covering the history of the first two waves of immigration and the second part dealing with the third immigration wave and their contributions after WWII.  Part Two was set aside mid-way during production due to lack of completion funds, despite already having completed filming of interviews, photos and documents.  He is still hopeful that Part Two will be made soon.

A question period followed the film’s showing.

This year, St Michael’s Church, located in Iberville, is celebrating its 100^th anniversary.  Ukrainians in Quebec documents how sixty families of St. Michaels’s Church, almost half of its parishioners at that time, were taken to be interned in Spirit Lake during WWI, setting back the growth of the parish for many years.

To order Ukrainians in Quebec on DVD, please write: Yurij Luhovy, MML Inc, 2330 Beaconsfield Ave., Montreal, Quebec, H4A 2G8. Cost: $29, includes shipping.  Tel: (514) 481-5871, or visit web site:  www.yluhovy.com

PHOTO

L. to R.: Mrs. Liudmyla Lewycka, Dr. Yurij Lewyckyj, Rev. Ihor Oshchipko and film maker Yurij Luhovy at screening premiere of Ukrainians in Quebec