Film celebrates Ukrainian Galicia

In Ukraine it’s often said that no wind is too cold for lovers.

That sentiment is also an apt description of filmmaker Dani Stodilka’s feelings toward the Ukrainian province of Galicia and its capital city of Lviv.

Stodilka’s latest offering, A Kingdom Reborn: Treasures from Ukrainian Galicia, examines the historical, cultural and political clashes the region endured and how they eventually brought the people together.

The film’s Winnipeg premiere will take place Feb. 7 at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.

“Ukrainian history is complex, often tragic, and frequently subject to historical narratives imposed by foreign rulers,” Stodilka said of her inspiration for the film.

Stodilka says Galicia is a fitting setting for any examination of Ukrainian history and culture. The capital, Lviv, is the place where Latin forces from the west and Byzantine forces from the east clashed, made peace and subsequently created something truly unique.

“It’s a role similar in many respects to that played by other confident, European regions such as Tuscany, Provence, or Catalonia,” she says.

Stodilka says the film presents Galicia in a whole new light according to some of the feedback she has already received.

“Previous audiences have told us they were amazed by the rich visual and musical heritage of Ukrainian Galicia explored in the film,” she adds.

“This deep and engaging cultural legacy is a revelation to many viewers, several of whom may have held incomplete or outdated preconceptions of the region.”

Dr. Myroslav Shkandrij, a professor of Slavic studies at the University of Manitoba, got a sneak peek of the film and was impressed by what he saw.

“It is a very professional history of Galicia in western Ukraine and provides many insights into contemporary life through interviews and visits to important sites,” says Shkandrij, who lives in the North End.

“Lviv is the capital of Ukrainian Galicia, the province from which many immigrants to Canada came.”

Stodilka says the film is especially relevant for audiences in Winnipeg.

“Most Winnipeg residents of Ukrainian heritage, as indeed most Ukrainian-Canadians, have ancestral ties to Halychyna, or Galicia as it is known in English,” she says.

“These ties may go back three, four, or even five generations. Galicia is a land of myth and legend for many families. It is also a land of incredible artistic accomplishments and concrete historical fact and we hope our film stimulates a more profound reflection on family origins and identity.”

Stodilka says the film’s message is especially timely. The Winnipeg premiere will take place on the same day as Ukraine’s upcoming presidential elections.

The film’s screenwriter, Peter Bejger, recently returned from Ukraine and couldn’t agree more.

“Some media paint alarmist scenarios about the drift away from the west and a possible re-orientation to an authoritarian Russia,” Bejger says.

“This is a superficial analysis. Galicia has always been poised between the Latin west and the Byzantine east and has created a unique cultural synthesis from elements in both worlds. No matter what happens in the political arena, Ukraine, and Galicia in particular, will serve as a bridge to the east while continuing its path of re-integration with Europe.”

The Winnipeg premiere of A Kingdom Reborn: Treasures from Ukrainian Galicia will begin Feb. 7 at 2 p.m. and will be followed by a discussion moderated by Shkandrij. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for students. Tickets will be available at the door.