“Understanding Ukrainians — Viddzerkalennia”: a film that helps people understand Ukrainians premieres in Tallinn

On 17 October, Kino Sõprus in Tallinn hosted the premiere of “Understanding Ukrainians — Viddzerkalennia” (“Reflection”), a documentary by Estonian director Allan Teetlaus. The film is based on Maryna Starodubska’s book “How to Understand Ukrainians: A Cross-Cultural View”. The premiere was organised by the Ukrainian Film Club in Estonia, which, for the first time in almost four years of its work, presented an Estonian film about Ukraine and Ukrainians.

From a lecture to a film

The story of the film began about a year ago with a lecture by Maryna Starodubska, organised by the Association of Ukrainian Organisations in Estonia at the Tallinn Central Library. Among the audience was Allan Teetlaus – a volunteer and a great friend of the Ukrainian community who speaks fluent Ukrainian. After the lecture he began to wonder how to tell Estonians about the ideas in the book, which at the time was available only in Ukrainian. This is how the idea of a documentary was born – a film that would help people from other cultures understand Ukrainians better.

Allan travelled to Kyiv, where he spoke with Yevhen Hlibovytskyi, Tetiana Filevska, Alim Aliev, Olesia Ostrovska-Liuta and Bohdan Beniuk. Their reflections on Ukrainian culture, society, historical experience and national character became the core of the film. Within about a year, thanks to the director’s initiative, persistence and volunteer work, the idea became a reality.

“Ukrainians are a nation of paradoxes”

Introducing the film, Allan Teetlaus said: “We want to offer you the opportunity to focus on what is hardly ever discussed outside the Ukrainian-speaking world. These are the main topics of debate in a rapidly changing Ukrainian society at a very difficult time for Ukrainians.”

In her introduction, Maryna Starodubska drew attention to the many paradoxes of Ukrainian society. Ukrainians do not trust anti-corruption bodies, yet take to the streets to defend their independence. Many are convinced that the safest thing is to trust no one, yet at the same time they support the Armed Forces of Ukraine, often through complete strangers. “There are countless paradoxes like this in our society. So we ourselves needed a book to understand how such opposite tendencies coexist in one society, why we act the way we do, and which path of development we will take,” the author explained.

Discussion, gifts and the “Slobozhanska Polka”

The screening was followed by a lively discussion with the director and the author. It was moderated by Gert Antsu, Head of the Ukraine, Moldova and South Caucasus Division of the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and former Estonian Ambassador to Ukraine. The conversation covered the Ukrainian mentality, values, historical experience and contradictions that are sometimes hard to explain even for Ukrainians themselves. The audience asked many questions and shared their own observations.

Maryna Starodubska had promised a signed copy of her book to the author of the most interesting question, but choosing a single winner proved so difficult that two books were given – to an Estonian and a Ukrainian member of the audience. The film club also gave away two tickets to the documentary “Dovzhenko. First Look”, which will be screened at Kino Sõprus on 24 October.

The highlight of the evening was a performance by the “Volya” Ukrainian song and dance ensemble of the Ukrainian Youth Association in Estonia, whose fiery “Slobozhanska Polka” was a gift to the audience and the director.

Thank you

The Association sincerely thanks Allan Teetlaus for his initiative, his enormous volunteer work and his wish to tell the world about Ukrainians, and Maryna Starodubska for her in-depth research into Ukrainian society. We thank Gert Antsu for his professional moderation, the “Volya” ensemble for their performance, Kino Sõprus for its hospitality, and all the viewers for their genuine interest and questions.

We want as many people as possible outside the Ukrainian community – in Estonia and in other countries – to see this film. It helps to understand not only what is happening in Ukraine today, but also why Ukrainians are the way they are. We hope that the Tallinn premiere will be the start of a long life for the film – new screenings, discussions and an international audience getting to know the real Ukraine.