Ukrainians in Canada

Kalyna Kardash

Toronto, ON

In long, drawn out conflicts such as the war in eastern Ukraine, a challenge diaspora communities often face is staying connected and engaged with their brethren thousands of miles away.  As donor fatigue begins to set in, the urgency of the situation slowly dissipates and everyday life retakes centre stage.

But every so often we are jolted back into the reality that a war is happening on Europe’s doorstep.  We are reminded that everyday people are killed and wounded, and although the wounded survivors are deemed the “lucky ones,” one has to wonder how lucky they are to live with horrific injuries, both physical and psychological, that will forever dictate how the rest of their lives play out.

Perhaps there is no better medium to parlay this reality, to conjoin two worlds even if just for an hour, than film.  In Adriana Luhovy’s powerful documentary Recovery Room, she takes viewers behind the scenes of the Canada Ukraine Foundation’s (CUF) medical missions, and gives us a glimpse into the gruesome realities faced by doctors and patients as they work to return a sense of normalcy to bodies heavily mutilated by war. 

Although the film has won several awards internationally (Official Selection, Geneva Film Festival; Best Cinematography, London International Filmmaker Festival of World Cinema; six Awards of Merit, Accolade Global Film competition, to name a few) on March 22 it was shown publicly to a Toronto audience for the first time.  The premier, which took place at the Old Mill Toronto and which was sponsored by the BCU Foundation, saw over 300 people in attendance.  “I’ve got to admit I’m quite nervous,” said Luhovy as she took the stage to introduce the film and discuss what it was like to work on it.  But nerves soon gave way to the telling of how she went from being mission photographer to videographer, to having gathered so much unique footage that she felt compelled to tell the stories of these men and women to the world. 

Helping her piece together what eventually would become Recovery Room were her mother and father, Zorianna Hrycenko (Producer) and Yurij Luhovy (Producer and Editor), who themselves can boast of several award-winning films.   “It often became too difficult for me to look at the footage over and over again,” said Luhovy, admitting that the making of the film forced her to face her own trauma, largely stemming from the Dawson College shooting in Montreal in September 2006, where she was a student at the time.

Recovery Room documents the story of several humanitarian Canadian medical missions to Ukraine in 2014 and 2015.  Composed entirely of volunteers, the medical teams share their experience as they try to make a difference in the lives of wounded Ukrainian soldiers and Euromaidan activists.  Also featured throughout the documentary are perspectives of the patients themselves, all of whom have suffered tragic injuries and ensuing deformities to their faces and upper extremities. 

In the audience that evening were doctors, nurses, and anesthetists who had taken part in one or more of the CUF organized missions.  Mission teams are always composed of Ukrainian and non-Ukrainian Canadians, who despite coming from different regions of Canada, spoke of being able to seamlessly adapt and work together with each other and their colleagues at the Main Military Hospital in Kyiv, Ukraine.  Led by Dr. Oleh Antonyshyn, a renowned plastic surgeon at Toronto’s Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, the volunteers work tirelessly, often for more than 12 hours a day.  Each mission lasts approximately one week.  Many expressed the feeling that although the days were long and exhausting, participating in such a mission was one of the most rewarding things they had done in their lives. 

The professionalism and emotion-evoking power of Recovery Room makes it hard to believe that it is Luhovy’s first major feature documentary.  It has been acclaimed at film festivals worldwide, and will be making an official appearance at the Toronto International Independent Film Festival in the fall of 2018.  But as Luhovy repeatedly noted, perhaps the film’s biggest accomplishment is that it puts a spotlight on the ongoing war in eastern Ukraine.  “Oftentimes people would come up to me and say they had no idea this was happening, or that they thought the conflict had ended,” remarked Luhovy as she recounted her experiences of showing the film to an international audience.

In a nod to Ukrainian Canadian leadership on the issue of humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, Luhovy recalled how in London, after watching the film, members of the Ukrainian ex-pat community had approached her, eager to do similar work.  “The community in Canada is really seen as a leader in this field, and has inspired others to do the same,” she said.

As for future plans, CUF is gearing up for its sixth medical mission this May.  The mission will take place in Odesa, and will send a specialized team of Canadian health professionals who will work alongside Ukrainian doctors and nurses in performing complex reconstructive surgical procedures on victims of the Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine and of the Euromaidan Revolution of Dignity.  Major sponsors of this mission are the Guardian Angels Ukraine Fund (under the patronage of the League of Ukrainian Canadian Women), the Ukrainian Canadian Veterans Fund, and the Oshawa Dnipro Ukrainian Cultural Centre Fund.

Soon Canadian doctors and nurses will once again take up their tools to perform reconstructive surgeries on some of the most difficult cases in Ukraine.  But they must also psychologically prepare to leave behind this reality for a very different one in Ukraine.  And although that reality might have seemed a world away, for audience members that evening in March, Recovery Room allowed for a brief abridging of time and space, bringing the stories and experiences of modern day Ukrainians a little closer to home.