Ukrainian American's documentary opens human rights film festival in Kyiv (05/28/06)

Ukrainian American's documentary opens human rights film festival in Kyiv

by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - More than 600 viewers gathered in the Cinema Building on May 21 to watch "The Orange Chronicles," a documentary film about the Orange Revolution produced by Damian Kolodiy, an American of Ukrainian descent.

"The Orange Chronicles" opened the third annual Human Rights Documentary Film Days festival, organized by the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union and the Center for Contemporary Information Technology and Visual Arts.

Out of more than 70 films submitted, organizers selected Mr. Kolodiy's film to open the festival because it offered a view of the revolution from an intimate perspective, said Yaroslav Hordiyevych, project coordinator for the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union.

"Even though it is a chronicle, it has a personal touch and personal feelings," Mr. Hordiyevych said. "It involves contemplation, rather than showing what took place. He thinks about the events."

"The Orange Chronicles" is a 110-minute film in which Mr. Kolodiy, a New York City native whose grandparents emigrated from Ukraine, watches the Orange Revolution unfold before the lens of his camera.

Though numerous films have been produced on the Orange Revolution, "The Orange Chronicles" is unique because Mr. Kolodiy's voice sets a first-person narrative, offering the viewer his subjective, personal perspective of the events.

Aside from the historic events in Kyiv, Mr. Kolodiy also recorded the violent antagonism toward the revolution demonstrated by southern and eastern Ukrainians which he filmed while riding with the Friendship Train.

It was during this trip that supporters of Viktor Yanukovych pelted Mr. Kolodiy's car with eggs and rocks.

While the caravan traveled to Donetsk, steel jacks scattered on the road punctured car tires preventing the "train" from reaching the city.

Among the scenes that most compelled the audience was Mr. Kolodiy's tense dialogue with a Kherson man, who declared his contempt for Americans because "you're always crawling everywhere and going where you're not needed."

Those comments drew applause from the audience.

The audience turned silent when the same fellow then expressed his desire to slit Mr. Kolodiy's throat.

Mr. Kolodiy managed to be at the right places at the right times, recording the revolt's historic moments, including Yulia Tymoshenko's call to action on the revolution's eve, Roman Tkach's famous speech in front of the Presidential Secretariat and the Supreme Court decision declaring the elections invalid.

"I remember during the days of the revolution, I thought that Ukrainians could build an exceptional country," Mr. Kolodiy said in his speech. "I still believe this can happen, but it will take time. You can't give up and you have to keep working."

After seeing the film, many Ukrainians told Mr. Kolodiy that they wanted to show it in their home cities.

Hanna Kukhta, 27, said the film reminded her of how President Yushchenko's election gave people the possibility to lead their lives in new conditions created by the revolution.

As for her impressions of the Ukrainian diaspora, Ms. Kukhta said she had once believed they traveled to Ukraine to teach Ukrainians how they ought to live.

"In reality, it's not quite like that," Ms. Kukhta said. "They also come to learn from us, and they care for and support Ukraine, not merely to achieve their ambitions."

The Heritage Foundation of First Security Federal Savings Bank in Chicago awarded Mr. Kolodiy $15,000 to produce "The Orange Chronicles," and the Ukrainian National Association contributed $1,000.

The young filmmaker plans a tour to show the film throughout the U.S. and Canada, and is looking for a film distributor.

At a May 21 press conference in Kyiv, Mr. Kolodiy said he plans to continue his film career in the U.S., and perhaps work on another project in Ukraine.

Scenes from "The Orange Chronicles" can be viewed at http://www.orangechronicles.com.

Another Ukrainian film debuting at the festival was "Zahadka Norilskoho Povstannia" (Enigma of the Norilsk Revolt), a documentary about the uprising of Soviet political prisoners at the Norilsk labor camp produced by Kyiv filmmaker Mykhailo Tkachuk.

Norilsk is the second largest city in the Arctic Circle, after Murmansk.

Following World War II, its labor camps were filled with Soviet political prisoners, 80 percent of whom were western Ukrainians, though numerous Lithuanians, Georgians and Kazakhs were imprisoned there as well.

Mr. Tkachuk interviewed Norilsk survivors who described horrifying conditions in which their daily meal consisted of 300 grams of bread (10.5 ounces), which was reduced to 100 grams (3.5 ounces) if they didn't fulfill work quotas.

For entire weeks at a time, prisoners ate nothing but kasha, or gruel.

Sometimes, they were murdered at random.

In 1953, the Norilsk prisoners led an uprising that lasted an entire month; it was launched by courageous Ukrainian women who staged a hunger strike for five days.

Prisoners took their barracks under control and submitted demands to the camp's commandant and even the Supreme Soviet. Letters were sent to other prison camps to let other prisoners know they were being tortured and starved.

Among their requests were more bread, less work and the right to write letters.

One Georgian survivor described it as a revolt of Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Kazakhs and Georgians against Russian imperialism.

Though Soviet authorities suppressed the revolt, it sparked similar uprisings in the Vorkuta and Karaganda Siberian labor camps.

"We need to return history to the truth," Mr. Tkachuk said. "We can't do without that because we've been so massacred."

Aside from Ukrainian subjects, the film festival also included documentary works from the Russian Federation that can't be shown in the host country because of censorship and fear of government persecution.

Such films addressed politically sensitive subjects such as the Beslan massacre and its handling by the Russian government, as well as Vladimir Putin's rise to power.

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