New Canadian docu-drama examines internment and other human rights abuses

VANCOUVER - In 1991, Vancouver-based filmmaker Marusya Bociurkiw met and interviewed Mary Manko-Haskett, an elderly Ukrainian woman with a surprising story to tell. She wanted to share her memories of being imprisoned with her family in a hard labor camp in northern Quebec. This was the start of "Unspoken Territory," a new Canadian docu-drama that documents how people have been unfairly targetted for subversive activities in the past century.

Examining human rights abuses in Canada's own backyard, the 60-minute film takes viewers to the beautiful but desolate setting of a Ukrainian internment camp in 1915, where Ms. Manko was interned; the story of a Quebecoise arrested under the War Measures Act in 1970; a Mohawk woman's memories of military presence in Kahnesatake in 1990.

With a mix of documentary, dramatic re-enactment and personal essay, this film questions "official" history and the seamless narratives of the archives. The film concludes by commenting upon current episodes of racism in the wake of recent changes to immigration law, asking the question: Could it happen again?

Shot on location in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, the Abitibi region of Quebec, the pine forests of Kahnesatake and the Slocan Valley of British Columbia, "Unspoken Territory" juxtaposes lush landscape images with starkly rendered stories. Acompanying the text are the polyphonic melodies of the Slavic vocal ensemble Zeelia, Vancouver street musician Roman Bociurkiw, Winnipeg's Paris to Kiev ensemble, and the complex synthesized arrangements of Toronto's Lee Pui Ming.

Vancouver film critic Mary Frances Hill had this to say about "Unspoken Territory:" "Through re-enactments and artistic flourishes, the filmmaker illustrates the legacy of fear and panic during national crisis ... no one will be able to resist the parallels today..."

The film will be screened at the Ottawa Public Library on October 23 at 8:30 p.m.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, October 20, 2002, No. 42, Vol. LXX

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