Film Fest
at Toronto Ukrainian Festival
(Toronto, ON) Two
feature presentations addressing the immigrant experiences of Ukrainian
Canadians will be highlighted on September 15 and 16 at the 2012 Bloor West
Village Toronto Ukrainian Festival Film Fest:
-
My Mother’s Village (2001), a documentary by acclaimed
Winnipeg-based Canadian Ukrainian filmmaker John Paskievich, draws on the
personal experiences of many prominent Canadian Ukrainians as it explores how
children of refugees and immigrants are caught between two worlds.
-
Acts of Imagination (2006), a feature film by Vancouver-based filmmakers
Carolyn Combs and Michael Springate, closes the festival. It portrays two young
Ukrainian immigrants in Vancouver’s East Side as they struggle to adapt to a
new country and to make sense of a past that remains a disturbing mystery.
Also
included in this year’s screenings are two films that are widely recognized by
audiences and critics alike as timeless masterpieces of Ukrainian folk cinema -
Serhiy Paradganov’s Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1964) and Borys Ivchenko’s
Propala hramota (The Lost Letter) (1972).
An
award-winning documentary of US filmmakers Oleg Timofeyev and Sabine I. Glz, Mrii
pro mynule (Dreaming Up the Past: Early Music in Ukraine) (2011)
skilfully explores the traditions of Ukrainian music-making that give
contemporary reconstructions of old music a different and unique flavour. And
finally, the theme of music as a living tradition is addressed in two short
films by young Canadian filmmakers. Justin Friesen’s outstanding documentary Let’s
Make Lemonade (2012) features the Lemon Bucket Orkestra which was formed in
2010. It offers insightful glimpses into what makes this one-of-a-kind
energetic Klezmer-style band tick. Mark Marchyk’s Marichka (2012) is a
pensive yet delightful short film that deftly blends poetry and music in a
series of vignettes in the city.
The
Bloor West Village Toronto Ukrainian Festival Film Fest is chaired by
Olga Klymenko with the assistance of Genya Woloshyn, and has come together
through a collaboration of the National Film Board of Canada (Toronto),
Dovzhenko National Film Studio (Kyiv, Ukraine), The Commercial Drive
Productions (Vancouver) and Toronto Public Library, Runnymede Branch. The films
will be screened on Saturday, September 15 and Sunday, September 16 in the library
located at 2178 Bloor St. West (just east of Runnymede Rd.). Tel.:
416-393-7697.
For
the Film Fest schedule, please visit www.ukrainianfestival.com or see
below.
Bloor West Village Toronto Ukrainian Festival
Film Fest Program
Saturday
11:30 am – Mrii pro
mynule (Dreaming Up the Past: Early Music in Ukraine) (2011, 57
min.)
Russian and Ukrainian with English subtitles
Directed by Oleg Timofeyev and Sabine I. Glz.
Production company: ArbatFilm
12:30 pm - My Mother’s
Village (2001, 101 min.)
Canada - English and Ukrainian with English
subtitles
Directed, written and narrated by John
Paskievich.
Producer: Joe MacDonald
Production Agency: National Film Board of
Canada
2:30 pm
- Let’s Make Lemonade
(2012, 13 min.)
Canada – English
Directed and produced by Justin Friesen.
- Lemon Bucket Orchestra – Lume, Lume
European Tour 2012 (promo video) (2012, 4 min.)
Canada - English
Directed by Mark Marczyk.
Produced by The Lemon Bucket Orkestra.
Filmed by Joshua Barndt.
- Marichka (2012, 15 min.)
Canada - English
Directed and produced by Mark Marchyk.
3:15 pm Shadows of
Forgotten Ancestors
(Ukrainian: Тіні забутих предків - Tini
zabutykh predkiv). (1964, 92 min.)
Ukraine - Ukrainian with English subtitles
Directed by Serhiy Paradganov.
Production of Dovzhenko National Film Studio
Sunday
1:45 pm Propala hramota
(The Lost Letter)
(Ukrainian: Пропала Грамота) (1972, 75 min.)
Ukraine - Ukrainian
Directed by Borys Ivchenko.
Production of Dovzhenko National Film Studio
3:15 pm Acts of Imagination
(2006, 85 min.)
Canada – English
Written by Michael Springate and Carolyn
Combs.
Directed by Carolyn Combs.
Produced by Michael Springate and Carolyn
Combs with the participation of Telefilm Canada and British Columbia Film.