Filmmaker Halya Kuchmij Nominated for Two Geminis

TORONTO–Award-winning film-maker and CBC television producer Halya Kuchmij has been no-minated by The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television for two Gemini Awards.

he first nomination is for “Lord Black of Crossharbour: The Life and Times of Conrad Black,” in the Best Biography category. The second nomination is for “The Life & Times of Northern Dancer,” about the first Canadian-born horse to win the Kentucky Derby. It has been nominated in the Best Sports Program category.

The winners of the Gemini Awards in these categories will be announced on November 17.

Kuchmij has worked in film and television as a producer/director for
the past 25 years. She has garnered numerous accolades for her work, among them: the Genie Award, seven Gemini nominations, six Chris Awards, a Gabriel Award, two New York Film Festival Awards, an Anik Award, two Yorkton Film Festival Awards and the Asia Pacific Media Fellowship. 

Kuchmij’s parents, Stephan Kuch-mij and Marta Wintoniw, emigrated to Canada after the Second World War from Dolyna and Rohatyn in the Ivano-Frankivsk region of Ukraine.

In 1990, Kuchmij toured Ukraine showcasing her films on Ukrainian subjects throughout the country. She is best known for her film “The Strongest Man in the World” about Mike Swistun from Manitoba.  Narrated by Jack Palance, the film won a Genie Award in 1980.

Kuchmij graduated from the University of Toronto and York University and is a Director Fellow of the American Film Institute.

Kuchmij is currently working on a feature documentary entitled “Living Strings,” a history of the bandura and the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus under Hryhorij Kytasty.  Orest Sushko, an Emmy Award-winning sound engineer, is collaborated with her on this project. They are in the process of seeking financing for the film.