Film Screening & Discussion – Music of Survival: the Story of the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus, With Director Orest Sushko

Please join the Ukrainian Film Club at Columbia University for a screening of the film Music of Survival: The Story of the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus, followed by a discussion with director Orest Sushko.

The story of the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus is one of courage and true grit – a vivid chronicle that celebrates the human spirit. This is the triumphant story of the original 17 members of the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus who survived World War II as a musical ensemble. The film brings out the deepest roots of a fragile tradition, celebrating the resiliency of a music culture that has survived centuries. Set against the backdrop of the war itself, the story reveals the ways that music and musicians are used and abused by political regimes.

It provides an educational, informative and compelling perspective – the personal stories of the last two survivors inter cut with the collective history of the bandura throughout the ages. Interwoven with contemporary musical performances, the film illustrates the bandurist as bard, as seer, as spiritual emissary for the soul of the Ukrainian people, then and now, in Ukraine and beyond.

Orest Sushko is a member of the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus, following in the footsteps of his father Makar Sushko, the first Canadian member of the Chorus in 1949 – and grandfather Paul Stepowy, a bandura craftsman and honorary patron of the Chorus. As an Emmy award-winning Re-recording mixer in both film and television, Orest has worked with a broad range of directors from David Cronenberg to Barry Sonnenfeld to Guillermo del Toro – television series including Orphan Black and documentaries from David Suzuki, to The North Face, The Patagonia and Alan Doyle of Great Big Sea.

From Columbia’s Harriman Institute.