Strange things happen sometimes. When we first completed this film, we applied to several US-based film festivals without much success so we decided ours was just not a “festival film.” We moved on and focused on independent and community-based screenings that proved to be very popular.
And then, a few weeks ago, we received a phone call from a man named Al Milgrom who asked us to send a screener to the Minneapolis/St Paul International Film Festival. Al was apparently traveling to the Berlin Film Festival and on the plane, he happened to be sitting next to one of Olia’s friends, Tom, an American living in Kyiv, who had seen our film when it had screened there back in November. … Read more
In November 2011, while screening Three Stories of Galicia in Lviv, Ukraine, as part of a country-wide film tour, we set out to find the man who, for many of our viewers, had become the symbol of Galicia during the Second World War.
Several years ago, during the production of our film, we were shooting some b-roll footage in the streets of Lviv when we came across an older man, standing in a doorway, shyly peeking from behind the door. … Read more
A series of video reports by the national Ukrainian TV “Channel 5″ as part of their program “No Comment”.
(In Ukrainian)
Screening in Lviv – November 17, 2011
Screening in Chernivtsi – November 18, 2011
Screening in Odesa – November 21, 2011
…
On January 8, 2012 our Father Bartminski was awarded the Fr. Roman Indrzejczyk award by the the Polish Council of Christians and Jews. The prize was granted for his life-long work to promote dialogue and advocate for respect, openness and tolerance between religions. Father Bartminski is the first recipient of this award that was established in memory of Father Indrzejczyk, a prominent priest who was famous for his friendly and open attitude towards all people of good will and who tragically died in the 2010 plane crash near Smolensk. … Read more
This year has been good. Since we started with a series of public showings, we were able to premiere the film in the US with screenings in DC, Baltimore and Bethesda, we then took the film to NYC, Toronto, Calgary, Cambridge, Chicago and a five-city tour in Ukraine. So we decided to close 2011 with one final showing in Bethesda’s Landmark Cinema where there was the largest crowd the last time around and even a sizable group of people who could not get into the sold-out showing. … Read more
We have finally found a cure for post-princess depression (see previous blog entry). We went to Chicago. Arriving to the wind city, we were swept away by the energy and efficiency of an amazing group of people who came together to organize a series of screenings as well as a panel discussion.
Have you heard of Vera Eliashevsky? Well, you should. … Read more
We are back in the US and are finding it extremely hard to go back to real life. Is there such a word as “Ukraine-sick”? If not, there should be. On that same note, if someone knows of a treatment for “post-princess depression syndrome”, we would appreciate you letting us know. Our Ukrainian team took such good care of us that it’s been really hard to recover from that unforgettable experience. … Read more
Our last screening – for this tour at least – took place in Odesa. We arrived to the Southern port city by the early morning train and we were scheduled to have a screening at the Ukrainian Club of Odesa at 2pm. We knew that this last screening was going to be with a smaller but more focused audience. Today, in modern Odesa, Ukrainians are a minority after Russians and Jews and relations between the different groups and communities can be very tense. … Read more
The screening in Chernivtsi (Southwestern Ukraine, right on the border with Romania) was added to our schedule at the last minute and because of that, we didn’t have very high expectations in terms of a turnout. We went there nonetheless thinking that it would be fine if we had a good discussion with 30 people afterwards.
The drive from Lviv to Chernivtsi takes about 6 hours, so we had to get going by 5 a.m. … Read more
We started our series of screenings in Ukraine on Tuesday. So far we have had showings in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Lviv. All three showings had a great turnout and were followed by very interesting – and sometimes heated – discussions.
What was particularly striking for us was the fact that even though the screenings took place in three cities that are historically and culturally very different, a lot of the same themes were brought up during the discussion. … Read more