2 years ago the executive director of the Civil Movement “Do not be indifferent!” (trans. Ne Bud’ Baydujim) came to us with the idea of a documentary film for students about the liberation struggle of the Kholodny Yar’s rebels against Russian invaders. “The idea to make the film has been arisen in the minds of our activists some years before”. This is a film that will be screen adaptation of the same named book of Yuriy Gorlis-Gorsky. Mainly adults rather than children were activated firstly when Vasily Shklyar renounced of the Shevchenko’s Award for his novel about the Kholodny Yar “Black Crow”. We will try to do everything possible for young people to be learned more about the heroic page in the Ukrainian history “— Oksana Levkova explained.
When we joined the idea of creating the film we have studied the dozens of articles and researches. We have read that bright novel “Kholodny Yar” backward and forward.
This vivid period of liberation struggle in Ukraine is really worthy of the feature film. But now we have prepared a short documentary that will be distributed by the “NBB!” activists in schools and among the soldiers in the area of ATO (Anti Terroristic Operation).
16-th of July 2013 year
Galina Khymych, Divaki production’s director:
We have become “not indifferent” to one more topic – “Kholodny Yar.” We are working on the documentary about the activities of Kholodny Yar’s rebels (1918-22 years) together with the Ukrainian public movement “Do not be indifferent!” (“NBB!”).
Without too much pathos I want say that there is still dominates some mysteriously-past atmosphere inside the forests of Kholodny Yar in Cherkaskiy region. Different people, roads, life, food, shops … Even mobile connection should be cached somewhere on the mountain. We were running with our phones to different hills in turn making scary the locals by our “eccentricities”.
We lived in an old house near the real decrepit old millennial oak.
We brought a bunch of impressions and materials.
We have been started our shooting process in July of past year exactly in Kholodny Yar in Cherkaskiy region the place where these historic events were started.
We were planning to film the “real” locations such as ravines, forests, scenic panoramas and etc. In addition, we hoped to find the descendants of the Kholodny Yar’s events.
And we have managed to record the memories of two grannies: Anna Tokovenko – the daughter of the HAYDAMAKY’s shelf soldier Kholod Chariton Maksimovic; and Nadiya Zubenko – the daughter in law of Zubenko Denis Ignatievitch who was one of the witness of Kholodny Yar’s events .
Moreover, we have managed there, in Cherkasy region, to film some game scenes with the peasants in old village house.
And after 2 weeks our film crew was working on the staging of fights reconstruction with the military history club “Rebel.” Everything was going on with the real weapon, shooting, explosions and horse. We have moved the locations in Holosiyivskyy Park (Kyiv).
If the filming days took place this summer (2014) we would realy scare people in Kiev. At the same time no one thought of shooting seriously. The passers-by were gathered around the filming area to enjoy a truly brilliant game of the soldiers-reenactors.
A lot of real volunteers have been joined to create this film: activists of the “NBB!”, “Divaki production” studio, historians and descendants of the witnesses, the Military Historical Club “Rebel” and many real patriots of Ukraine whom we will certainly remember in the final titres to the film.
