Famine Film: "Harvest of Despair" by Leonard Klady
Produced by the Ukrainian Famine Research Committee (since renamed the Ukrainian Canadian Research and Documentation Center -- Webmaster InfoUkes) with assistance from the National Film Board and a variety of private and public funding sources, the movie screened at the Planetarium Auditorium of the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature on October 26 and 27, 1984. It is a real eye-opener.
However, the production's greatest asset remains the eloquent and emotional testimony of survivors and first-hand witnesses to the horrors. Memories of those who saw relatives and friends slowly succumb to disease and malnutrition fill one with the most terrifying images. It is clear from the tone of these people's recollections that their lives were forever changed by the experience.
HE ALSO INTERVIEWED more than a hundred living survivors of the famine who live in Montreal. In the vast majority of cases, these people refused to be filmed or would only consent on the understanding the material would not be seen until after their deaths. Luhovy says their fear of reprisals is unshakeable.
"Of course, all of us who participated in the film would hope it has some small effect on getting the famine official recognition by Soviet authorities,' Luhovy notes. "But most important is that people not forget what occurred. The film was not made out of anger, it was made to show the senselessness of the action. We must always remember this and ensure such incidents never happen again."