A director from the United States made a film about the contribution of Ukrainian refugees to the development of America

Immigration in the United States is an issue that has divided public opinion into two radically opposing camps. Helping Americans understand immigrants and appreciate their role in the development of the country is the goal of Ukrainian-born documentary filmmaker Matej Siletsky. He decided to do this with the help of the memoirs of Ukrainian refugees who found refuge in the United States after World War II. He called his documentary “Baba Told Baba.”

Photo: video frame VOA, still from the film “Baba Told Baba”

Learning from the mistakes of the past: aspiring director Matei Silecki is convinced that his film will help Americans understand modern refugees in the United States, writes Voice of America.

3,5 years ago, Matei began to collect for the archive the evidence of Ukrainians who arrived in the United States after World War II. Over time, this archival project became the basis for the documentary.

“There are a lot of things in the film that make you think,” says Matei. — Not only about the history of the Second World War, but also about the current and future situation. These are the stories of our families, our lives, present and past. This is a story from the words of eyewitnesses - not only from Ukraine and the United States, but from all over the world.”

Matey Siletsky. Photo: video frame VOA

Matei hopes that the stories of immigrants, the stories of their forced escape from their native country will help modern society understand the important role that refugees have traditionally played in shaping American values.

“Refugees have a lot to offer,” says the director. “They are ready to give a lot to build their home here.” Many of them have a golden rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Photo: video frame VOA, still from the film “Baba Told Baba”

The trident on the director’s neck is a tribute to his Ukrainian roots. Matei received this trident from the pope, who received it from his father.

“I never take it off: it’s more than gold. There is blood, sweat and tears in it,” says Siletsky.

Photo: video frame VOA, still from the film “Baba Told Baba”

Matej Silecki became interested in the topic of Ukrainian immigrants while studying at Berkeley University, after a professor of Soviet history refused to accept Orest Subtelny's History of Ukraine as a reliable source of information. It was this book that was the main source of Matei’s work at the university.

“Subtelny was a famous writer who was listened to at other universities - Yale, Oxford, Cambridge, but my professor did not want to recognize him as a source of information,” says Matei. - It shocked me. It was then that I began to understand what my grandmother was talking about as a child and what was really happening to Ukraine during Soviet times.”

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Photo: video frame VOA, still from the film “Baba Told Baba”

What did it mean to be caught between the Nazis and Soviet troops during World War II? What did it mean to run away from home, leaving your old life? How to create a new life on a new earth? Ukrainian immigrants talk about these and other problems of refugees in the film.

Photo: video frame VOA, still from the film “Baba Told Baba”

“All the characters in the film are refugees,” says Matei. “They went through refugee shelters, some through concentration camps. They went through all this fear and suffering on their way to the United States."

All heroes of the tape from 70 to 90 years. All of them emigrated to the USA as children.

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Photo: video frame VOA, still from the film “Baba Told Baba”

The director gave a symbolic, in his opinion, title to his film: “Baba Babee Skazala: Grandmother Told Grandmother.” After all, it was the people of the older generation who stored and transmitted information, says the director.

Photo: video frame VOA, still from the film “Baba Told Baba”

“This is a play on words: the woman said to the woman. It's about how their stories spread,” says the director. — Most often, the carriers of information were elderly people. In the Ukrainian community they don’t tell their grandparents: “You don’t know anything.” They knew much more than us."

Photo: video frame VOA, still from the film “Baba Told Baba”

Now the documentary is in the final stages of editing. Its release is planned for February next year.

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