Jack Palance rejects award offered during "Russian Nights" (09/05/04)

Jack Palance rejects award offered during "Russian Nights"

by Stephen Bandera

NEW YORK - A week of "Russian Nights" held recently in Los Angeles culminated with an awards ceremony at the prestigious Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood. The gala event on April 22 was held at the end of a weeklong festival that "celebrates Russian contributions to the world of art." The program of cinema, theater and music visual arts was sponsored in part by the Russian Ministry of Culture and enjoyed the support of Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Scheduled to receive "narodnyi artyst" awards (cleverly translated as "the Russian People's Choice Award") were two Oscar-winning actors: Dustin Hoffman and Jack Palance - both of whom trace their roots to Ukraine.

In accepting his award, Mr. Hoffman noted that his grandparents came from "Kiev, Russia" and expressed gratitude to the "Russian people" for helping defeat Germany. He thanked them for saving his grandmother, who otherwise "may have ended up as a bar of soap."

Next in line for the Russian government's highest artistic award was Mr. Palance. Born Walter Palahniuk in Pennsylvania in 1918, Mr. Palance won the Academy Award in 1992 for his memorable portrayal of Curly in "City Slickers." Mr. Palance, proud as a Kozak of his Ukrainian heritage, is chairman of the Hollywood Trident Foundation.

After being introduced, Mr. Palance related that he said "I feel like I walked into the wrong room by mistake. I think that Russian film is interesting, but I have nothing to do with Russia or Russian film. My parents were born in Ukraine. I'm Ukrainian. I'm not Russian. So, excuse me, but I don't belong here. It's best if we leave."

Mr. Palance and his entourage proceeded to get up and go. He was accompanied by four other guests, including his wife, Elaine, and the Hollywood Trident Foundation's president, Peter Borisow. Mr. Palance refused to accept the award, even in private, or to view "72 Meters," the movie being screened as the festival finale.

Speaking from Los Angeles, Mr. Borisow commented on Mr. Hoffman's statements: "I don't think it's necessarily Mr. Hoffman's fault. I think it's tragic that he doesn't even know his own family history. His ignorance of the basic facts is shocking. That Mr. Hoffman lends himself, hopefully unwittingly, to denigration of Ukrainians (and thus of himself), as he did by endorsing a festival that featured the highly offensive and racist movie '72 Meters' is very disappointing."

Mr. Borisow was referring to Vladimir Khotinenko's 2003 film "Siemdesiat-Dva Metra." A drama surrounding events on the submarine Slavianka, the film portrays Ukrainians as bumbling fools and repeatedly refers to Ukrainians with the racist pejorative "khakhol" word. As part of the film's plot development, the Ukrainian submarine's Russian officers refuse allegiance to newly independent Ukraine, steal the ship and sail it to Russia.

"This is a continuation of a centuries-old effort to invent a history and culture for Russia by hijacking, first, the Ukrainian church, then Ukrainian history and finally Ukrainian culture," Mr. Borisow said. The HTF presiddent said he considered the festival to be part of a "coordinated, worldwide campaign to promote Russia and Russian culture and, in so doing, to make Ukraine seem part and parcel of Russia."

"I'm certain that in Russia, Jack's acceptance of the mislabeled award would have been sold as his accepting being a 'national artist' of Russia, not a 'people's choice' - much like they sell "Russia" as a derivative of Kyivan 'Rus' instead of the Ukrainian word 'rossiyane,' meaning, 'the scattered ones, the nomads.' Jack is very proud to be Ukrainian and will not let anyone hijack his name or persona," Mr. Borisow observed.

Twenty films were screened at the Pacific Design Center's Silver Screen Theater, including Ukrainian filmmaker Oleksander Dovzhenko's "Aerograd" (1935). The festival program did not mention that Dovzhenko was Ukrainian, and instead described him as "the son of illiterate peasants" who "incorporates elements of peasant lore and pastoral tradition."

"This latest incident is just another part of a long history of genocide that killed 10 million Ukrainians in 1933 and continues in more subtle form to this day - all of it still actively promoted and financed by Russia," Mr. Borisow said. "Putin knows there can be no Russian empire without Ukraine, so he is pushing the assault from all angles: military, industrial, energy, economic, religious and cultural."

In addition to Russia's Ministry of Culture, other sponsors of "Russian Nights" included East-West Foundation for Culture and Education, LA Weekly, Panorama Media, 7 Arts, Adelphia, Rodnik Vodka, Samuel Adams Beer, Movieline's Hollywood Life, IN! Magazine and the National Bartenders School. The festival was organized by the Stas Namin Center.

The festival's website includes letters of greeting from actors Leonardo Dicaprio, Liv Tyler and producer-director Francis Ford Coppola. Previously held once in Germany in 2003, "Russian Nights" are scheduled to descend upon New York between October 23 and 30 later this year.

The article above was originally published in the June 21 edition of the New York-based newspaper Natsionalna Trybuna. It is reprinted here with the author's permission.

| Home Page |