This film documents three community events which occurred in December 1991 at Bradford Ukrainian Club. It was made by the Ukrainian Video Archives Society (UVAS) and they are credited at the start of the film. The language of the films is a mixture of English and Ukrainian. The first film is a community meeting to agree the text of letters which are to be sent out in response to the referendum on Ukrainian independence (3 Dec 1991); the release of blue and yellow balloons by the pupils of...

This film documents three community events which occurred in December 1991 at Bradford Ukrainian Club. It was made by the Ukrainian Video Archives Society (UVAS) and they are credited at the start of the film. The language of the films is a mixture of English and Ukrainian. The first film is a community meeting to agree the text of letters which are to be sent out in response to the referendum on Ukrainian independence (3 Dec 1991); the release of blue and yellow balloons by the pupils of the Ukrainian Saturday School to celebrate Ukrainian independence (7 Dec 1991) and the annual St Nicolas (Svyatiy Mykolaiy) concert (22 Dec 1991). The film begins with external view of Bradford Town Hall, from which a Ukrainian flag is flying. The scene changes to show the town hall from the side, and then from behind a water feature, which had a map of Bradford’s twin towns attached to it. The scene fades out. The next scene is in the main hall at Bradford Ukrainian club. The camera is focused on the stage. Zenon Lastowiecki, chair of the Bradford branch of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain, comes onto the stage and stands behind the lectern. Speaking into the microphone, he welcomes everyone to the meeting. He asks the priest to come to the stage to lead a prayer, after which the priest takes a seat at a table which has been set out in the middle of the stage. Zenon Lastowiecki continues his welcoming address and outlines the evening’s agenda, which is to agree the text of a series of letters about the referendum on Ukrainian Independence. It is intended to send these letters to John Mayor, the British Prime Minister, Leonid Kravchuk, the Ukrainian Prime Minister, and the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian Government. After the vote, there will be a short speech by a young English man about an interesting project. Zenon Lastowiecki asks an unidentified man to the stage read a report about Ukrainian Independence. He speaks about the significance of this for all those who have waited and worked towards this. At the end of the reading, the man takes a seat at the table on the stage. Zenon Lastowiecki then asks Mr Pilyak to read the three letters to the meeting. Mr Pilyak takes his place behind the lectern. He reads the letter to John Major first. It has been written in English and asks the government to support and recognise the new Ukrainian nation. He then reads the letters to Kravchuk and to Rada, both of which are in Ukrainian. He takes a seat at the table on the stage. Zenon Lastowiecki goes back behind the lectern and proposes a vote on the letters. First is the letter to John Major, which is unanimously agreed by a show of hands. The Kravchuk and Rada letter attract some comments and amendments, but are eventually agreed, again by a show of hands. The question about how the letters will be sent is asked, and it emerges that the Ukrainian letters will be faxed, which causes a reaction in the hall. Zenon Lastowiecki then welcomes Julian Clay from Whitbread to the lectern to talk about the Whitbread Round the World Race. Julian says that the race happens every four years and that in the next one which is due in 1993, a Ukrainian team will take place for the very first time. A Ukrainian previously entered as part of a Soviet team. However, due to independence, the plan is to build and enter a Ukrainian yacht in the race which will be funded by a Ukrainian private bank and Western funding. After Julian finishes, Zenon Lastowiecki returns to the lectern to give a closing speech, and the camera pans between the stage and the audience as they rise to sing the Ukrainian national anthem. Finally, Zenon Lastowiecki mentions that on Saturday, the Ukrainian school children will release blue and yellow balloons to celebrate independence and asks all children to wear embroidered shirts. There is noise from the audience as they begin to leave. This section finishes at 54 mins 30 secs. The next film on the tape is the balloon release. This section starts at 54 mins 32 secs with a close up of the school sign which reads Taras Shevchenko Ukrainian School AUGB Bradford Branch, then switches to the school hall. The pupils are sitting on the floor in the middle of the room, and parents are sitting and standing around the sides of the room on chairs and tables. The teacher speaks in Ukrainian is talking about the significance of certain songs sung by the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen (Sichovi Strilchi). The children sing the song Hey There in the Mountains (Hey Tam Na Hori). At the end of the song, she asks the pupils to stand up and they sing Oh the Red Viburnum in the Meadow (Oy U Luzi Chervona Kalyna). The camera pans around the room during the song, and shows a small group of parents inflating blue and yellow balloons before returning to the children. They all sit down again and the scene switches to them singing Oy Can You See the Village (Oy vidno selo). The scene then fades out to outside, where a small group of adults are trying to arrange a photograph of a small group of children with balloons on the grassy area at the back of the club. There is a photographer present who is from the local press. On his count, the children release the balloons and the photographs are taken. The language spoken in this part is a mix of English and Ukrainian. The scene fades out and returns to the picnic area at the back of the club. There are a larger number of children and adults assembled now, all holding balloons. The Director of the School asks everyone to be quiet and explains that there will be a prayer and then everyone will release their balloons. The group say the Lord’s Prayer in Ukrainian, then the balloons are released and they all look up excitedly and admire them. This section ends at 1 hr 17 mins 16 secs. The scene cuts to the final film on the tape, which is the St Nicholas Day concert. This section begins at 1 hr 17 mins 17 secs. The stage is decorated with a wintery, Christmas theme. The play is performed by children and is in Ukrainian. The first scene is a group of children on stage, dressed in winter clothes and pushing sweeping brushes around to tidy up the snow. The script concerns their excitement at the impending visit of St Nicholas / Svyatiy Mykolaiy) and whether they have been good enough to get a gift. A girl dresses as a devil (chortyk) comes on and encourages the children to be naughty and have a snowball fight, but the devil (chortyk) is challenged by an angel. Then a group of very small angels come onto the stage, followed by St Nicholas (Svyatiy Mykolaiy), who gives a greeting to everyone. The small angels then sing St Nicholas Loves Us (Och Toch Toch, Mykolaiya Liubyt). A chair is brought out for St Nicolas and he sits down. Then a microphone is placed next to him and a young woman comes to assist him with the gift gifting. The angels form a line on the stage and pass presents up to St Nicholas. The girl reads out the name of the child on each parcel, and the child comes to the stage, sometimes with a parent, to receive their gift. This continues until all the gifts have been distributed. Then Stefan Yarotsky comes onto the stage to give a closing address and thank you, and invites a small boy from Ukraine named Yurko to the stage to recite a poem entitled I am a little Ukrainian (Ya Malenkij Ukraiyinets). Stefan Yarotsky then announces that the club will be open on 24 and 25 December, and then wishes everyone a good evening. This section ends at 2hrs 17 mins 13 secs.