DATELINE NEW YORK: Canadian actress wins NY film award (12/09/01)

DATELINE NEW YORK: Canadian actress wins NY film award

by Helen Smindak

Actress/producer Stephanie Thorpe, a fifth-generation Ukrainian Canadian, walked off with Best Actor honors at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival. Ms. Thorpe won the award for her acting in "The Absent Phallus," a feature film that she co-wrote and produced. The film also won the Best Directorial Debut award for its director, Mike Davies Jr.

Although the premiere showing of the film took place on September 8 at the Clearview Cinema in Manhattan, Ms. Thorpe accepted the Best Actor award last weekend in Los Angeles, where her film was being screened during the Los Angeles International Independent Video and Film Festival. The New York festival was interrupted by the September 11 tragedy, so its award presentations were carried over to the L.A. festival.

Both the New York and the Los Angeles festivals focus on underground, low-budget and non-mainstream artists.

Since the name Thorpe does not have a Slavic ring, Ms. Thorpe and her New York triumph would have slipped by the attention of "Dateline New York" had I not received a communique in November from Andriy J. Semotiuk. A Los Angeles attorney at law, Mr. Semotiuk is president of the Hollywood Trident Network, an organization that brings together entertainment and media industry professionals for mutual career support and contact, and conducts educational projects for members.

Mr. Semotiuk's e-mail announcement to HTN members and the press that "the rising Ukrainian Canadian star Stephanie Thorpe" would be in Los Angeles on December 1 for the screening of her first feature film made reference to its New York premiere, immediately prompting me to search for further information. (Incidentally, readers may recall that Mr. Semotiuk, born in Edmonton, was a correspondent at the United Nations from 1975 to 1978 as part of his work with the World Congress of Free Ukrainians.)

"The Absent Phallus," which has also received a special commendation from the Canadian Annual Independent Film Festival, explores the relationship involving two friends, fashion designer Julia (Stephanie Thorpe) and struggling artist Kate, who have shared everything throughout their whole lives - including men. Following a scandalous love triangle between the two friends and Kate's boyfriend, the women's friendship deteriorates; Kate is left bitter and alone, while Julia develops a one-night stand habit. When a piece of Kate's art is stolen, the pursuit to recover the scandalous sculpture forces Julia to retrace her sexual past, while Kate scrambles to find the art work before the two best friends can learn what they really think of each other.

The film not only brought an acting award for Ms. Thorpe and the directing award for her associate, Mr. Davies, it was also nominated for best feature film in the New York festival.

Described as "a mainstream idea with an art house flair" by The Independent Film Quarterly, "The Absent Phallus" is the first feature film produced by Ms. Thorpe and her Toronto-based company Counter Productions Inc. (Though intended for mature audiences, the film is not pornographic, despite its intriguing title.) Counter Productions, established by Ms. Thorpe, Mr. Davies, writer Patrick Thornton and producer Lindsay Lanzillotta, received an earlier success with the award-winning short film "When Urine Love," which has garnered international acclaim and has been picked up by the Canadian Comedy Network.

A native of Vancouver, Ms. Thorpe, 25, grew up in that West Coast city and was involved in many Ukrainian activities there during her childhood, including folk dancing and school. She says her parents, Vancouver lawyer/businesswoman Bonnie Kripps and pharmacist Edward Thorpe (Torupka), were very active in Vancouver's Ukrainian Orthodox parish. Her grandmother, Agnes Kripps, president of the Vancouver chapter of the Children of Chornobyl, is a former British Columbia Member of Parliament and was one of the first Ukrainian women to serve in Parliament.

Last spring, Ms. Thorpe received a master's degree in English literature in Toronto, where she now spends several months each year with her Counter Productions company. She has just completed filming her second feature film as producer and female lead in "Hair of the Dog," scheduled for release in early 2002.

Engaged in theater work earlier in her career, Ms. Thorpe turned to film production and has produced a number of short films, among them "When Urine Love," "Tell My Story" and "Sour Milk." She has appeared in various TV commercials, a pilot for a television series and the short films "The Whole Machine," "Harsh Reality," "Point of View" and "Day of the Carp." Her feature film credits include "Parasidium" and Astral Entertainment's "Beautiful Horizon," as well as the upcoming "Hair of the Dog."

Ms. Thorpe is busy on several fronts. She was a British Columbia delegate with a Canada trade mission (the youngest delegate in the group) that accompanied Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell and other western Canada premiers to Los Angeles on November 29 and 30. She has just been hired to host a new Canadian television show featuring Indie (independent) filmmakers and is already taping shows that will begin airing in the spring.

She says she has high hopes of doing a documentary about her Ukrainian ancestors in the near future. With five generations of ancestors to work with, beginning with great-great grandparents Wasyl and Olena Krepiakevich of Galicia and Anton and Olena Achtimichuk of Bukovyna - all of whom arrived in Canada in 1897 - she declares she has "some great stories to tell."

"Crafting Identity"

Lovers of Ukrainian arts and crafts, and all things beautiful jammed the library, stairway and second-floor rooms of the Ukrainian Institute of America on a mild evening in early November to gaze at ceramics, eggshells, fabric, glass, metal and wood fashioned into dazzling works of art. It was the preview and sale of a three-day group show of crafts, "Crafting Identity," sponsored by Branch 113 of the Ukrainian National Women's League of America and the institute as a fund-raiser for The Ukrainian Museum.

Interpreting their cultural roots were 12 artists: Masha Archer (California), jewelry; Boris Dudchenko (Pennsylvania), glass; Nancy Weeks Dudchenko (Pennsylvania), ceramics; Natalia Kormeluk (Maryland), ceramics; Lialia Kuchma (Illinois), tapestry; Dan Kvitka (Oregon), wood; Sophia Lada (Canada), hand-painted ornaments; Nina Lapchyk (Massachusetts), hand-painted silk; Kateryna Nemyra (Ohio), ceramics; Zorianna Sokhatska (Pennsylvania), hand-painted silk; Valentin Yotkov (New York), silversmith; and Sofia Zielyk (New York), pysanky. All but Mr. Yotkov, a Bulgarian by ancestry, were Ukrainian, and several of the artists were on hand to meet and talk with visitors.

Exhibit pieces ranged from exotic blown-glass forms, sophisticated highly-polished wood sculptures and thick wool tapestries to hand-painted gossamer-weight silk scarves and dresses, flower-decorated ceramic bowls and plates, intriguing ceramic panels and conch-shaped bowls, handsome stoneware vases and porcelain pitchers, as well as hand-blown and hand-painted glass ornaments, exotic multi-strand necklaces, and stunning goose-and ostrich-egg pysanky.

Ilona Sochynsky Shyprykevich, who chaired the event, pointed out that exhibition participants melded ancient techniques with contemporary aesthetics, casting a fresh light on each of the media in which they operated. "The pieces in the exhibit reflected more than simply the intricate means of their production - they served as a moving tribute to the potent mix of myth and memory that constitutes one's personal heritage," Ms. Shyprykevich noted.

The well-coordinated show, which received a nice publicity boost from the New York Daily News prior to the opening, was put together by a crew of spirited professionals. Ms. Shyprykevich says that vice-chairs Ola Lewicky and Daria Mehrle took on a large share of responsibilities, and a great deal of work was done by committee chairs Alla Leshko, Martha Lewicky, Lesia Rakowsky, Christine Samilenko, Olya Zarycky and Junior Committee Chair Andrea Kochanowsky. She said special thanks should go to Maria Shust "for her great installation," to Magda Gagliano for flower arrangements, and to Lew Rakowsky and Adriana Leshko "for bringing fresh ideas" into the exhibit.

Anthology of poetry

A bilingual anthology of 20th century Ukrainian poetry was introduced to the public at two separate events in the East Village on the same day in late October. The unique book won first place in the category of Literature by Ukrainian Authors at the 8th Forum of Ukrainian Book Publishers in Lviv last September.

"Sto Rokiv Yunosti," or "A Hundred Years of Youth," includes the work of 100 Ukrainian poets from the 20th century, from Emma Andijewska all the way to Oleh Zujewskyj. Among the poets are Ivan Franko, Lesia Ukrainka, Anka Sereda and Serhi Zhdanov. Virlana Tkacz, director of New York's Yara Arts Group, says the book also includes "the luminiscent lyrics of 1920s (Pavlo) Tychyna, the transcendental work of Oleh Lysheha, the outrageous antics of Bu-Ba-Bu and the lush verse of love."

The handsome volume is almost 900 pages thick, embracing each poem in the original and in its English translation. Published by Litopys Press of Lviv, it was edited by Olha Luchuk, author of over 40 articles and reviews in translation studies and literary criticism, and Michael M. Naydan, professor of Slavic languages and literatures at Pennsylvania State University. Among the 44 translators who contributed work to the anthology are Jars Balan, Watson Kirkconnell, Stanley Kunitz, Askold Melnyczuk, Wanda Phipps, Paul Pines, Mark Rudman, Yuri Tarnawsky, Ms. Luchuk, Prof. Naydan and Ms. Tkacz.

Celebrating the American debut of "A Hundred Years of Youth" at the Tompkins Square Branch Library on East 10th Street, the Yara Arts Group brought to life excerpts from the book through readings, drama and music. The library's Galina Chernyk welcomed participants and Prof. Naydan spoke briefly about the publication, describing the work as "a labor of love." Poet, literary scholar and translator Vasyl Makhno from Ternopil, Ukraine, introduced by Ms. Tkacz, read his poem "You Foresaw," which appears in the book, and Prof. Naydan read his English translation. Mr. Makhno offered some of his new poems - "Private History," "Elegy of Water" and "Untitled"; the English translations were read by Yara's Eunice Wong and Meredith Wright.

Others taking part in the program were Allison Hiroto, Cecilia Arana, Jodi Lin and Elena Siyanko of the Yara Arts Group, and bandurist/flutist Julian Kytasty, who performed his own musical and vocal compositions and the music of Genji Ito as accompaniment for several readings.

Later that day, at the Shevchenko Scientific Society, Myroslava Znayenko of Rutgers University opened a program that focused on "A Hundred Years of Youth" and a collection of Lina Kostenko's poetry, newly translated by Prof. Naydan. Here, as at the Tompkins Square Branch Library, Prof. Naydan and Mr. Makhno participated in poetry readings. Ms. Tkacz read English translations of Ukrainian poems, selecting works of Lesia Ukrainka, Pavlo Tychyna and Liudmyla Taran.

Also taking part as readers were Michael Bernosky, and authors and translators Marta Tarnavska, Maria Rewakowicz and Tatiana Kaspruk.

"A Hundred Years of Youth" opens with a foreword in Ukrainian by Ms. Luchuk and one in English by Prof. Naydan, plus an essay, "At The Crossroads of the Century," by Prof. Mykola Ilnytsky of Lviv's Ivan Franko University that is offered in both Ukrainian and English. Notes about the poets and translators, together with photos, are presented at the back of the book, providing interesting background information.

This is a book that persons of all ages will find enjoyable, interesting and educational, a volume that can be placed proudly on the living-room coffee table for visitors to examine and admire. "A Hundred Years of Youth," at $50 a copy plus mailing, is available by contacting Matthew Vidic, ProCopy Inc., 289 Northland Center, State College, PA 16801, or by e-mailing [email protected].

Helen Smindak's e-mail address is [email protected].

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