Turning the pages back... November 30, 1991 (11/25/01)

Turning the pages back...

November 30, 1991

Ten years ago, November 30, 1991, marked the debut of the unprecedented feature film about the Great Famine of 1932-1933 - "Holod '33."

"This film is my personal contribution to the Ukrainian independence referendum," said Kyiv filmmaker Oles Yanchuk, whose new film premiered before the public on republic-wide television that Saturday evening. It was aired just hours prior to the opening of the polls for the December 1, 1991, historic referendum in which the citizens of Ukraine were asked to affirm the Verkhovna Rada's August 24 proclamation of Ukraine's independence, as well as to elect a president.

Over 90 percent cast their votes in support of independence, and Leonid Kravchuk was elected the first president of newly independent Ukraine. There is no doubt, observers said at the time, that Mr. Yanchuk's film played a role in the overwhelming "yes" vote.

"Holod '33" told the story of Stalin's forced collectivization, which led to the death of more than 7 million Ukrainian citizens in central and eastern Ukraine. "I wanted people to see what life was like in a colony, the inhabitants of which were mercilessly exploited in the name of a utopian ideology," Mr. Yanchuk told The New York Times. The making of the film was unprecedented. Only in the past two years had this tragic page in Ukraine's history been told to its citizens. For decades Soviet authorities and their sycophants abroad had denied that the genocidal man-made famine had taken place.

"Holod '33" was awarded first prize at the first nationwide Kyiv Film Festival held in mid-November 1991. Mr. Yanchuk later traveled abroad with his film, which made its North American debut in December 1991.

Sources: "Film on Ukrainian famine debuts on eve of referendum," The Ukrainian Weekly, December 8, 1991, Vol. LIX, No. 49; "The cultural/arts scene - The performing arts" in "1992: A Look Back," The Ukrainian Weekly, December 27, 1992, Vol. LX, No. 52.

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