Literature and Art

Sanin’s historical adventure film “Dovbush” in various Canadian cinemas across  the country.

Nowadays, you can watch almost anything at home through a streaming service. Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu, and other services are flooded with movies, but Ukrainian content is largely missing from these platforms. If you are willing to leave the convenience of your home, we have two great recommendations for you, the documentary "Ukrainian Mothers and the Children of War" and the Ukrainian big-budget release historical drama "Dovbush."

Olena Tumanska's poignant documentary "Ukrainian Mothers and the Children of War" follows the stories of six women and their children who have sought refuge in Canada in the aftermath of Russia's war in Ukraine. They have seen rockets fly over various cities and had their apartments destroyed, and some have had to flee the treacherous war twice, once from Horlivka in Donetsk Oblast and then from Kyiv. These mothers are battling their own quiet wars of trauma and depression of having left their husbands, mothers, relatives, and friends back home. Two of the six are also pregnant and trying to tread new waters without the knowledge of English.

In Canada, the Ukrainian women and their children are met by their host families, Canadians who are ready to make an impact and help. Oksana, Anastasiya, Maryna, Valentyna, Tetyana, and Kateryna have all had to start anew. They have had to support their children in a completely different environment, find employment, rent an apartment, and sleep on the floor. Some have even given birth to children while relying on the goodness of strangers for support. As they settle, they are also grappling with the emotions of not only having left their husbands, mothers, adult children, and extended family in Ukraine but also some difficult questions from their own children who traveled with them to Canada. Each story is deeply moving. They strive to rebuild their lives, provide new beginnings for their children, and keep in touch with their families back home, and their new compassionate Canadian hosts. Through intimate storytelling, the series showcases the resilience of the human spirit as these families find hope and restoration in their shared journey toward a better future. The documentary "Ukrainian Mothers and the Children of War" is premiering in Cineplex theatres across Canada from September 28th, 2023.

In 1960, the Oleksandr Dovzhenko film studio presented the first known screen adaptation of the life and adventures of a Ukrainian folk hero and leader of the opryshky movement - Oleksa Dovbush. On August 24th of this year, director Oles Sanin released a new 91-minute Ukrainian language historical adventure film about Dovbush and the liberation movement by the Hutzuls at the beginning of the 18th century. The plot takes the viewers to the foggy Carpathian mountains where the main character, of course, Oleksa Dovbush, a young Hutsul who stands up against the Polish lords and seeks revenge on them for the murder of his parents. The character of Oleksa is depicted idealistically. He is a protagonist hero who has a clear moral compass, a heart of gold, and noble beliefs. He wants freedom and justice for the Hutzul people and his family and generally embodies knightly virtues. Instead of shiny armor, Dovbush wears a traditional Hutzul woolen coat, carries a hatchet, and seems to be protected by magical enchantment. Sanin captures the desire for freedom, in one of the scenes, the character of Dovbush states: "I don't want to run away, I want to live. I want to live here, freely, on my land." These words echo the sentiments and feelings of modern-day Ukrainians living and fighting the aggression of large-scale Russian war in Ukraine. The music, costumes, and cinematography are worth your time.