Putin’s war in Ukraine is not the first time a Russian regime has tried to eliminate Ukrainian culture and independence. In 1932 – 1933, systemic policies perpetrated by the Soviet government under dictator Joseph Stalin exterminated millions of Ukrainians through mass starvation. Survivors who escaped to Canada post WWII recount the horrors of living through this little known Ukrainian Famine/Genocide.
Stalin was determined to suppress Ukrainian nationhood once and for all through the decimation of Ukraine’s elites and its rural population. Millions died, a third of them children, as brigades forcibly confiscated not only livestock and the grain harvest but basic foodstuffs. Journalists were barred from Ukraine and borders were closed. Fearing for their lives , no one spoke of this atrocity until 1991 when Ukraine gained independence. Memories of this genocide reverberate today as Ukraine fights Putin’s horrific war which began February 24, 2022.
Director Biography – Ariadna Ochrymovych
Ariadna Ochrymovych is an independent producer/director/writer and educator.
Her documentary films include the five-part, award-winning National Film Board series, The Feminization of Poverty; the CBC production Simma Holt: Journalist , Politician, Activist; Dancing the Goddess , with dance legend Peggy Baker .
Her children’s film, Billy Goat’s Bluff with the Toronto Dance Theatre and The Juggler, (Radio-Canada and the CBC), were broadcast internationally in 2 languages. The Juggler, a book for schools, based on the film was later published by Scholastics
Ariadna taught documentary film and screen writing at Humber College for many years as well as for the Toronto Board of Education and York University.
She’s worked as production manager, assistant director and associate producer with Cineflix Inc. and Calipix Productions (on the award-winning documentary When East Meets East.
Ariadna has a BA in French & Spanish Literature from the University of Toronto and an M.A. in Comparative Literature from Carleton University.
Currently she is co-producing a transmedia/online documentary, Moment of Contact with Calipix Productions, based on the life of General Wolfe, a re-telling of Canada in the making.
Director Statement
The Ukrainian Famine/Genocide was the Biggest Lie and The Best Kept Secret in the Soviet Union until 1990 and hardly known world-wide. The truth is only now being revealed as documents are disclosed and survivors stories are heard about the millions who starved to death in Ukraine in 1932-33. It is important today to be aware of this atrocity as Ukraine is again threatened, pillaged and invaded by Russian imperialism led by Vladimir Putin.
Trailer
| Ariadna Ochrymovych Director, Writer, Producer Feminization of Poverty series, Simma Holt, Dancing the Goddess, The Juggler, Billy Goat’s Bluff, Addicted Babies Luba Goy Key Cast “voice -over” Royal Canadian Air Farce, Governor General’s Award for acting career, Canada Orest Zakydalsky Writer |
