Hryvnia, the movie, is released (01/19/97)

Hryvnia, the movie, is released

MONTREAL - At the request of the Canadian Bank Note Co. in Ottawa, award-winning Montreal filmmaker Yurij Luhovy was commissioned to do a 20-minute corporate documentary titled "The New Ukrainian Currency-Hryvnia." The Ukrainian-language film was made to coincide with the recent official introduction of the new currency in Ukraine. Efforts are being made to show the film on Ukrainian state television.

The film "Hryvnia" describes the complex printing process used by the Canadian Bank Note Co. to print the currency in Canada. The corporate documentary shows the various steps in the process called lithography that applies many colors and intricate patterns onto special watermarked paper.

Because of the sophisticated printing processes used by the Canadian Bank Note Co. to print valuable papers, the currencies that the company prints are the least counterfeited in the world. The company won an international competition to print the hryvnia.

The main negotiator between Ukraine and the Canadian Bank Note Co. is CBNC Vice-President Orest Nowakiwsky. From 1991 to 1996, Mr. Nowakiwsky has been involved with security printing and projects in Eastern Europe and Ukraine.

A parliamentary committee of Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada decided on the design characteristics for the hryvnia. The hryvnia was a monetary unit that was widely used in Kyivan-Rus and then, once again used by the independent Ukrainian state in 1917. The designs depict a series of landmarks and historical figures from medieval Ukraine to the present. The film gives a concise, historic overview related to designs for each denomination.

In order to preserve the integrity and secrets of CBNC's printing process, all the filming was highly restricted, done under the tighest of security, and had to be approved at every step. From this footage, the producer-director created an informative, quick-paced corporate documentary that captures a truly remarkable achievement in Ukraine's process of nation-building.

The script-writer was Fran Ponomarenko, the Montreal author who recently released the French version of her short stories "The Parcel From Chicken Street." Original music for "Hryvnia" was composed by Andrew Mazepa; the film's narrator was actor Hryhorii Hlady. "The New Ukrainian Currency - Hryvnia" was produced, directed and edited by Mr. Luhovy, well-known for the award-winning documentary "Freedom Had A Price."

An evening that featured Mr. Nowakiwsky as guest speaker was organized by the Ukrainian Canadian Professional and Business Association of Montreal on December 12, 1996, at the Ukrainian Youth Center.

For further information, or to obtain a copy of the video, please contact: Judy Lonsdale, Communications Coordinator, Canadian Bank Note Co. Ltd., (613) 722-3421 ext. 115, or fax (613) 722-2548.

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