Ukrainian cinematographer brothers Andriy and Pylyp Rozhen held a screening of their documentary, titled Winter That has Changed Us, Saturday evening at the St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Orthodox Church in North Battleford.
The film, which was featured at the Cannes Film Festival, is currently being shown across the country by the Rozhens as part of the Ukrainians: From Pacific to Atlantic tour, which started June 28 in Vancouver, British Columbia. The brothers will make stops in six provinces, including five screenings in Saskatchewan.
"We want to show to the Canadian people here that the conflict between Ukraine and Russia is bigger than it seems to be," Andriy said prior to the screening of the film. "It's a conflict of two civilizations. It's a conflict of Soviet values and European values."
Pylyp added that the mission of the tour was to inform the Canadian people exactly who Russian President Vladimir Putin actually is and the effect of his regime.
The project, Andriy said, is about the three hardest days of the civil protest in Maidan - the central square of Kyiv, Ukraine. These were the three days when the most protesters died. After starting as a peaceful protest, people were not being heard by the Ukrainian government of the day, which has since been replaced. He says the government was making "horrible laws" that, if they were passed, would take away all of their freedoms. That is why people fought.
"We wouldn't have free press at all," said Andriy. "We'd lost our country completely. That's why people raised and started battles. Real battles."
The footage was captured as part of the Babylon '13 project, which was named for Nov. 30 when students were "beaten very horribly." Vladimir Tikhiy, an award-winning producer and director of multiple short films, documentaries and feature films, gathered Ukrainian cinematographers in Kyiv.
"[He] offered to make some sort of union of volunteers who will just film everything that they see," said Andriy. "Film everything. All the revolution, all the different parts of the revolution."
Andriy added that he believed he and his brother would be the most helpful by filming the revolution so the information could be presented as a documentary.
The brothers, along with the other cinematographers gathered for the project, were on the frontlines of conflict recording material. Andriy said it was a dangerous place to be because the bullets were real.
"People were dying in our, not in our arms, but eyes," he said. "We were inside a real war in our own city."
During the filming, one of their cameramen was shot in the leg. The same cameraman was captured in Crimea and held in prison for 16 days. He was released only by a "miracle," as Andriy said.
He also told the story of Oleg Sentsov, one of their directors who was taken from his apartment in Crimea in front of his wife and children. Sentsov was transported to Moscow and held on charges of terrorism. He could face 25 years in prison. Andriy said he was telling the position of the citizens, but doing nothing wrong.
"It's not fair," he added.
The cross-Canada trek spreading their story was planned to stop in big cities, but has been guided to smaller communities by volunteers and Ukrainian ex-patriots.
"They help us to choose the places," said Andriy. "We have certain places, the big cities, but the small towns come up when volunteers tell us."
The screening began with shorter documentaries that outlined the beginning of the protest in Maidan, followed by the brothers' full-length documentary. The night ended with an informal seminar, allowing the brothers to elaborate on the events of the film. During this period, the brothers explained how the support from Canada is felt overseas. They were present when Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird laid flowers at the Maidan memorial for the protesters who died. The brothers said they especially appreciate when Canadians of non-Ukrainian heritage attend screenings of the film.
Updates of their tour can be found on their Facebook page, Ukrainians from Pacific to Atlantic. Babylon '13 films are still being made and are uploaded to their YouTube channel. The material is still being presented as the conflict between Ukraine and Russia escalates.
"This probably will take several generations for Ukrainians to forgive what already is done by Russian federation."
