“Bitter Harvest”: meet the film producers
Date and time:
Saturday 18 February, 2017
19:30 - 21:00
Location:
Main Hall of the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Family
21 Binney Street
London
W1K 5BQ
The story of Ukraine's Great Famine, The Holodomor, is to be told to cinema audiences in "Bitter Harvest", a film by Ian Ihnatowycz. This is the first attempt to tell the world the story of the mass starvation of millions of Ukrainians in 1932-33 through the brutal policies of collectivisation initiated by Stalin. The film tells the story of a Ukrainian couple, Yuri and Natalka, who are sucked into the horrors of collectivisation and famine. This event offers an opportunity to meet the producers, discuss the production process and key challenges producers faced in telling a story so central to the Ukrainian identity.
The event is held in partnership with the Association of Ukrainian Women in Great Britain and will be moderated by Marina Pesenti, Director, Ukrainian Institute London
This event will be held in English.
FREE
Speaker
Ian Ihnatowycz
Ian Ihnatowycz is a producer and the sole financier of Bitter Harvest. This is Ihnatowycz’s first venture into the film industry and has been a project close to his heart as the tale sheds light on one of the 20th Century's greatest tragedies: Stalin's brutal and deliberate starvation of the Ukrainian people in 1932/33. A first-generation Canadian-Ukrainian, he grew up with the knowledge of Stalin’s Reign of Terror through the stories of his grandparents who left Ukraine in the 1940s. Ihnatowycz is an entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience in the investment management industry. Formerly Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Acuity Investment Management Inc. and Acuity Funds Ltd. The firm had won many awards for investment performance.
Speaker
George Mendeluk
George Mendeluk has directed a number of industry greats during his distinguished career, including Christopher Plummer, William Shatner, Hal Holbrook, Ava Gardner, Terrence Howard, Anne Archer, Josh Brolin, and Terence Stamp. He has received five Gemini Award nominations, including Best Director, and won awards at the New York Film & Television Festival. Growing up in Canada, Mendeluk was unable to speak English until he was 5 years old. Suffering from bullying and discrimination, his only escape came from the world of cinema. Mendeluk began his career in 1972 as a comedy writer for Lorne Michaels. In 1980 he directed his second feature. Since then he has worked in a wide variety of genres amassing an array of film and television credits.
