Ukrainian Canadian

While I just missed it’s week long showing on PBS’s POV program, you can still watch the English Surgeon online for the next little while ( as we’ve reviewed before).

The POV program also contains:

• A great discussion guide for the movie and broader health care topics.
• Q & A with the English Surgeon Henry Marsh, as well as additional video
• A link to Kyiv Post’s interview with Henry’s Ukrainian counterpart Dr. Igor Kurits
• NPR’s interview with Henry Marsh (September 8, 2009)
• CBS interview with Henry Marsh about why he decided to make the film and the criminal investigation of Dr. Igor Kurits currently underway in Ukraine. (September 8, 2009)
• BBC News’ article describes the state of the health-care system in Ukraine, which is paid for by government money, patients and doctors. It offers a look at the way the former Soviet republic is trying to expand and improve the quality of its health care in spite of its economic struggles. (July 2, 2008)
• The article’s background on Ukraine

‘Ancestors in the Attic’ aired tonight on Global an episode about a man trying to look up his Ukrainian roots at the WWI internment camp in Spirit Lake, Quebec:

Growing up as a Ukranian-Canadian, Jerry Bayrak always faced prejudice. But he also heard whispers that his family dealt with even worse when they first arrived in Canada. No one would ever tell him anything about those early days. All Jerry’s Mom would reveal was that she grew up in a small town called Spirit Lake, near Montreal. But it wasn’t until Jerry began digging that he discovered that Spirit Lake was actually a World War I internment camp. Now, with the help of Ancestors in the Attic, Jerry begins a dramatic search to discover the truth about Spirit Lake and about one of the darkest chapters in Canadian history.

The issue of Ukrainian internment is one that still remains a secret in Canadian history.   From Wikipedia:

The Ukrainian Canadian internment was part of the confinement of “enemy aliens” in Canada during and for 2 years after the end of World War I, lasting from 1914 to 1920. About 5,000 Ukrainian men of Austro-Hungarian citizenship were kept in twenty-four internment camps and related work sites, also known, at the time, as concentration camps. Another 80,000 were registered as “enemy aliens” and obliged to regularly report to the police. Those interned had whatever little wealth they owned confiscated.

There also exists other witness accounts, even CBC radio covered Spirit Lake.  In addition there were other camps, including Fort Henry and Kapuskasing in Ontario.

Last year, the government announced it will provide a grant of $10 million to the Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko to establish an endowment fund to support initiatives related to the First World War internment experience that predominantly affected the Ukrainian and other East European ethnic communities in Canada.

Earlier this Spring I was lucky enough to catch this great documentary called The English Surgeon at HotDocs, an intimate portrait of a brain surgeon working in an ill-equipped Ukrainian hospital and dealing with the moral and ethical issues that often exist between doctor and patient relationships.

It was an amazing movie to see, and it ended up winning the HotDocs festival.  When the movie was released on DVD it was only available in England but I was lucky enough to have some friends bring it over and it has been a pleasure to watch again.  Here is a trailer of the movie and some screenshots (click on them for a larger image):

Edit:  I’m happy to report that now the DVD is available to all on their official site and finally comes in NTSC format which can be played on North American DVD players.  It’s about 16 pounds to purchase, but with the pound coming down recently now is a great to come to buy it!

I found this on YouTube, a great video done by some students in Portland, Oregon.  Their assignment was to learn about a genocide, and they chose the Holodomor.  Great job!

From the Globe & Mail:

Toronto — A film about a British neurosurgeon’s heroic efforts to bring relief to tumour victims in Ukraine has won the $10,000 award for best international feature documentary at the 15th annual Hot Docs festival. The North American premiere of The English Surgeon, directed by Geoffrey Smith, was one of seven films honoured last night at a ceremony in the Isabel Bader Theatre at the University of Toronto.

read on…

I was at the first screening of this movie and it was very good! Unfortunately the DVD is only available in Europe. Congratulations to director Geoffrey Smith for an excellent job!