In this feature-length documentary, director Katya Soldak presents a highly personalized portrait of Ukraine, a country that has wrestled for decades with its identity.
The filmmaker was born in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, while Ukraine was still the second-largest Soviet republic. She tells of growing up amidst worry about US nuclear bombs, in an environment of peace and stability, believing that "we were the good guys."
With family in New York, at age 22 she joins them, finding employment at Forbes magazine, where she covers ex-Soviet territories including her homeland, which we learn has weathered a series of political crises since the USSR's crumbling under Gorbachev. Through it all is the question of whether Ukraine will ally itself with Russia or Europe.
Pro-democracy demonstrations in 2004 put Ukrainians on the spot -- on which side lies each voter's loyalty? Viktor Yushchenko wins the presidency, but is poisoned. Ms. Soldak's stepfather doesn't embrace populist affinities for the West, while a like-minded friend laments, "They are trying to make a Ukrainian out of me." Nevertheless, the so-called Orange Revolution shows that "Ukraine is a country" in its own right, we're told. Yet, perhaps ominously, the director's friend Max opines that "Ukraine has no future."
A subsequent election carries Russia-backed Viktor Yanukovych, who has a prison record, to power in Ukraine, on promises of stability. But Yanukovych jails his former political rival, protesters clash with riot police, "people are fed up with their abusive government, and are prepared to die," and snipers kill 100. In 2014, Yanukovych flees to Russia, and "the protesters got what they want," we're told.
However, it isn't long before Russia annexes Crimea, "a violation of international law," doing so "under the pretext of protecting Russian speakers in Ukraine." Donetsk and Luhansk become "unrecognized people's republics," and people wonder whether Kharkiv will be next.
Again there are elections, and Ms. Soldak's mother votes for Petro Poroshenko, who had sided with the protesters. Meanwhile, Russian propaganda claims Ukraine is overrun by nationalists and fascists, following a US-organized coup. Ms. Soldak's mom concludes that "her country is Ukraine," even as a statue of Lenin still towers over Kharkiv. But, in 2014, it topples -- a thumb in the eye of Russia.
Five years later, a former comedian named Zelensky assumes the presidency. (As we reel from today's brutal headlines, it's chilling to see clips of him in a clownish role.) The director's mom predicts he'll be a Russian satellite; today's headlines tell a radically different tale.
I had a chance to view this film at New York City's Hunter College, with remarks from the director. We find out that her mother and stepfather fled to New York in the invasion's early days. Some friends dropped everything for standing-room-only "evacuation trains," while others, with ties to the elderly or disabled, stayed put to weather what would come.
It's a sad and gripping history that leaves one intensifying hopes for Ukraine.
The filmmaker was born in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, while Ukraine was still the second-largest Soviet republic. She tells of growing up amidst worry about US nuclear bombs, in an environment of peace and stability, believing that "we were the good guys."
With family in New York, at age 22 she joins them, finding employment at Forbes magazine, where she covers ex-Soviet territories including her homeland, which we learn has weathered a series of political crises since the USSR's crumbling under Gorbachev. Through it all is the question of whether Ukraine will ally itself with Russia or Europe.
Pro-democracy demonstrations in 2004 put Ukrainians on the spot -- on which side lies each voter's loyalty? Viktor Yushchenko wins the presidency, but is poisoned. Ms. Soldak's stepfather doesn't embrace populist affinities for the West, while a like-minded friend laments, "They are trying to make a Ukrainian out of me." Nevertheless, the so-called Orange Revolution shows that "Ukraine is a country" in its own right, we're told. Yet, perhaps ominously, the director's friend Max opines that "Ukraine has no future."
A subsequent election carries Russia-backed Viktor Yanukovych, who has a prison record, to power in Ukraine, on promises of stability. But Yanukovych jails his former political rival, protesters clash with riot police, "people are fed up with their abusive government, and are prepared to die," and snipers kill 100. In 2014, Yanukovych flees to Russia, and "the protesters got what they want," we're told.
However, it isn't long before Russia annexes Crimea, "a violation of international law," doing so "under the pretext of protecting Russian speakers in Ukraine." Donetsk and Luhansk become "unrecognized people's republics," and people wonder whether Kharkiv will be next.
Again there are elections, and Ms. Soldak's mother votes for Petro Poroshenko, who had sided with the protesters. Meanwhile, Russian propaganda claims Ukraine is overrun by nationalists and fascists, following a US-organized coup. Ms. Soldak's mom concludes that "her country is Ukraine," even as a statue of Lenin still towers over Kharkiv. But, in 2014, it topples -- a thumb in the eye of Russia.
Five years later, a former comedian named Zelensky assumes the presidency. (As we reel from today's brutal headlines, it's chilling to see clips of him in a clownish role.) The director's mom predicts he'll be a Russian satellite; today's headlines tell a radically different tale.
I had a chance to view this film at New York City's Hunter College, with remarks from the director. We find out that her mother and stepfather fled to New York in the invasion's early days. Some friends dropped everything for standing-room-only "evacuation trains," while others, with ties to the elderly or disabled, stayed put to weather what would come.
It's a sad and gripping history that leaves one intensifying hopes for Ukraine.
