On Friday, Mar. 16, there was a full house at the Land Titles building in the city to view the local debut of the documentary film Myth.
The Myth movie is about the a hero of Ukraine, opera singer Vasyl Slipak, who was killed in eastern Ukraine, explained Leonid Kanter who made the film along with Ivan Yasniy.
The documentary was released in Ukraine Feb. 8, and is now on a cross Canada tour. The local screening was presented by Ukrainian Canadian Congress - Yorkton Branch.
The film tells the story of world-renowned Ukrainian opera singer Slipak who was born in Lviv. He had won numerous contests in his younger years and eventually moved to France, where he lived for 19 years, explained Kanter.
Slipak had a successful career and performed on world opera stages, but he remained a staunch supporter of Ukraine sending materials home to help in the revolutionary war Ukraine has been embroiled in with Russia.
When the military operations began in eastern Ukraine, Slipak decided to leave the stage and career in Europe and join the ranks of Ukrainian volunteers fighting the war, offered Kanter.
“He wanted to see with his own eyes and decided to stay as a volunteer soldier,” Kanter told Yorkton This Week.
Being on a combat mission, Vasyl Slipak a.k.a. Myth was killed by a sniper in June 2016. Slipak was awarded the Order of Courage of the first degree (posthumously). In February 2017, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko awarded him the title of Hero of Ukraine posthumously.
Kanter said while Slipak’s death was sad it was also reflective of his feelings for Ukraine.
“His life was full of love for Ukraine,” said the filmmaker.
The film, which is in Ukrainian, but sub-titled for English audiences utilizes a number of elements to tell Slipak’s story.
Kanter said they purposely created a film they felt would transcend any barrier language might create.
“A big part of this film is on the emotion,” he said, adding if they felt a part of the film was too reliant on language to be understood it was cut out.
Archival video recordings were used to show the hero in everyday life and on the stage.
The film also utilizes animation in the telling of the story, offered Kanter.
The strength of emotion, and the technique of filming have allowed a broad range of people to see the film and be moved, suggested Kanter. He said at the screenings in Canada “I see their eyes after,” and it obvious they have been touched by the film.
Myth is the second film on the revolution by Kanter and Yasniy, the first being The Ukrainians.
Filming of The Ukrainians took place in the village of Peski and at the Donetsk airport terminals during the violent clashes between Ukrainian soldiers and pro-Russian separatists in the spring of 2014.
Ukraine freedom fighters fought for 242 days at the Donetsk Airport. The fight was long because of its strategic positioning. In spite of that, the Cyborgs did not back down, even though they were under constant fire from tanks and heavy artillery.
The filming crew spent three months in the frontline of the war zone, following the Right Sector soldiers, under constant gun and artillery fire, detailed zvamy.org.
Kanter said it was a unique experience filming with a hand held camera as the bullets flew all around him.
