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A Canadian War Story
A Canadian War Story
Michelle Pinon - News Advertiser
Around 50 people attended the screening of: A Canadian War Story at the Basilian Fathers Museum in Mundare on May 10.
The film, by John Paskievich, is a chronicle of Ukrainian Canadian Warriors in WWII. The film was produced by the Ukrainian Canadian Research and Documentation Centre (UCRDC) in Toronto, and the screening of the film was sponsored by the Kalyna Country Eco Museum Trust Society and the Ukrainian Pioneers Association of Alberta.
Paskievich said, the UCRDC was looking for filmmakers on the contribution of Ukrainian Canadians in the Second World War. “I auditioned and I got the part, so I made the film.”
The film, said Paskievich, “Is documentation of Ukrainian Canadians who served in the Second World War. Before the Second World War Ukrainian Canadians and other immigrants from Eastern Europe were considered second class citizens. But after the war, because they had spilled their blood for Canada, they became real Canadians. It’s a coming of age story.”
Paskievich said he did not interview any survivors or their descendants for the film. “Unfortunately, not. This film should have been done 25 years ago, but it wasn’t done. The people that we met with the idea of doing live interviews they were quite infirm and it wasn’t working out, so what we did is use is testimonials that we managed to find in all kinds of ways; in museums, Legion newsletters, in self-published books. So, the film is entirely archival testimonies, archival photographs and motion picture.
The film was completed in 2020. Paskievich said, he was happy with the final product. “When started making it, I wondered if I could pull it off, but I am happy that we did and relatives from all the people who saw it were also happy. I think it worked out well.”
To date, the film has been screened about a dozen times since it was released. The opportunity to show the film in Mundare came about, as he explained, “Jars Balan, who works at the Institute of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Alberta, asked me if he could show it at the Canadian Association of Slavists conference in Edmonton that was held Thursday-Saturday, and I said sure. Harvey, (Spak) who I’ve known for a long time, is a filmmaker as well, and asked if I would screen it in Mundare. I said, happy to Harvey.”
As far as the meaning and message of the film, Paskievich said, “War is terrible and war is stupid, and the ones who pay the price are young people and they get mutilated and killed, and their closest family and friends have to live with their own pain for the rest of their lives. It’s a horrible thing. Just utterly horrible.”
Spak described the film as a coming of age story, one that’s “very powerful” and “emotional” as it captures the experience of war. He said the film encompassed a wide spectrum of Ukrainian Canadians who served in the Second World War and who were seen as equals after World War II had ended.
