"Genocide Revealed" Recieves Standing Ovation In Edmonton

For Immediate Release

GENOCIDE REVEALED RECIEVES STANDING OVATION IN EDMONTON

Edmonton:    Yurij Luhovy’s multi-award winning English language feature documentary Genocide Revealed on Famine-Genocide 1932-1933 in Soviet Ukraine received its Edmonton Alberta premiere on 20 September 2011 before several hundred viewers at the Ukrainian Youth Unity Complex. The premiere was part of a Western Canadian tour including Winnipeg, Calgary, Kelowna and Vancouver. The Edmonton screening was co-hosted by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress-Alberta Provincial Council and the Ukrainian Canadian Congress-Edmonton Branch and attended by a cross section of the community – young and old.

Director/Producer Yurij Luhovy was in attendance and in his opening remarks he shared some of the technical and logistical challenges of producing films such as Genocide Revealed.

In spite of any difficulties, Luhovy expressed pride in his Ukrainian community and declared his ongoing commitment to tell their stories in the medium of film within mainstream settings. Luhovy stressed the importance of film festival screenings as a venue for bringing the crucial story of the Holodomor into public forums and consciousness. He paid tribute to community supporters and stressed that the twelve international awards that Genocide Revealed has garnered are a tribute not to him but to the Ukrainian community. In an environment where the current government of Ukraine cannot be counted on as a supportive partner in such ventures Luhovy thanked the organizers of the screening as well as the community who helped partially fund the production: The Shevchenko Foundation, Andrij Hladyshevsky; the Ukrainian Self-Reliance Association,  Edmonton; the Ukrainian Canadian Benevolent Society, Edmonton; the Heritage Community Foundation of Alberta;  Alberta Ukrainian Commemorative Society; and others. All proceeds from the screening are designated to the production of a shorter educational version of the film to be used in curricula instruction on genocide.

Following these opening comments, the Edmonton premiere of Genocide Revealed commenced. The film, with narration by Gemini award-winner and Academy Award nominee Graham Greene and voice-overs by Jill Hennessey and Lubomir Mykytiuk weaves together expert testimony from historians and archivists as well as documentary evidence from historical documents. Most import are the gripping first person survivor accounts, which Luhovy has captured for posterity. The result is a compelling expose of a deliberate act of genocide against the Ukrainian people both within and beyond the borders of Ukraine.

After a standing ovation for the director, Daria Luciw, President of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress – Alberta Provincial Council opened the floor to questions and comments. Members of the audience congratulated Yurij Luhovy for his determination and bravery in bringing the story of the Holodomor into public awareness.

In attendance at the screening was the Hon. Eugene Zwozdesky Minister of Health and Wellness and Deputy Government House leader of the Government of Alberta. In 2008 Minister Zwozdesky presented the Ukrainian Famine and Genocide (Holodomor) Memorial Day Act in the Alberta Legislature, which passed three readings unanimously in a single day. Through this Act the fourth Saturday of November in each year is proclaimed as a day memorializing the Holodomor in Alberta. Reacting to the film Genocide Revealed Minister Zwozdesky stated that it was extremely educational and belonged in every household.

In her concluding remarks Daria Luciw stressed that it was incumbent on the community to make sure that the history of the Holodomor genocide is recognized and that this objective cannot be achieved without the work of filmmaker Yurij Luhovy. Upon conclusion, the attendees mixed and mingled and met informally with the director to share their feelings and impressions.

For further information please refer to www.yluhovy.com If you wish to help support the Educational version contact  mmlinc@hotmail.com or write 2330 Beaconsfield Ave., Montreal, Quebec, H4A 2G8, tel. (514) 481 5871.

Peter J. Melnycky

Edmonton