Film "Return Sasyk to the Sea". Ukraine Benefit Event

Fri Jun 10 2022 at 07:00 pm

Ukrainian Museum | New York

Ukrainian Museum
Publisher/HostUkrainian Museum
Film "Return Sasyk to the Sea". Ukraine Benefit Event
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Friday, June 10 at 7 p.m.
Saturday, June 11 at 7 p.m.
Director & Producer ANDREA ODEZYNSKA will present her 2022 documentary film
RETURN SASYK TO THE SEA
Duration: 60 minutes
Ukraine/United States
English subtitles
Tickets: $25
Proceeds to benefit Razom for Ukraine (http://www.razomforukraine.org), a 501(c)(3) organization sending humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
Friday: Q&A after the film with the director and Marci Shore, Associate Professor of History at Yale University and award-winning author of Caviar and Ashes and The Taste of Ashes. Prof. Shore presented her book >The Ukrainian Night: An Intimate History of Revolution at The Ukrainian Museum in 2018.
Bizarre Soviet irrigation experiments in Southern Ukraine, created a slow eco-disaster which continues today. Sasyk Estuary, by the Black Sea, is ground zero for a battle between eco-activists vs. poachers, bureaucrats, and corrupt officials.
FILMMAKER'S STATEMENT:
In light of the latest brutal invasion of Ukraine, the story of Sasyk Estuary
is a metaphor for the history of Ukraine itself. ~Andrea Odezynska
RETURN SASYK TO THE SEA
Iryna Vychrystyuk grew up by the Sasyk Estuary "Liman" at the Black Sea in Southwestern, Ukraine. She was happy and healthy, as were her friends. The Sasyk was a pristine lagoon teeming with life, a huge sandbar, exotic birds, and fish from the Black Sea. Local residents enjoyed Sasyk's beautiful beaches. There were several competing fisheries. Tourists loved Sasyk's health promoting, mineral-rich mud. Sasyk was the heart of this community.
Then, one of the oldest residents recalls the day in the late 1970's when, "Four black Volga sedans pulled up. Soviet generals got out to inspect Sasyk. That was it. No one asked us what we wanted."
A 14-kilometer long concrete dike was built cutting Sasyk off from the sea. Salt water was pumped out, a canal dug, and fresh water from the Danube re-filled this lagoon. Soon, the Sasyk's now "fresh water" would irrigate farmland. If this experiment worked, all remaining estuaries at the Black Sea would also get converted into reservoirs by means of dikes, canals, pumping stations, and the manipulation of Ukraine's major rivers.
It failed. Engineers could never desalinate Sasyk. Farm land was ruined. Residents left. Fisheries closed. Algae blooms strangled. Tourists deserted. The Danube added industrial pollution into Sasyk. Villagers saw and see more cancer. Former experiments with raising and lowering the water levels of Sasyk caused so much erosion that old tombstones and caskets from one local cemetery fell into Sasyk.
Activists continue to petition local and ministry officials, "Remove the dike!" Promises are made then forgotten. But, in spite of stasis, corruption, fishing and hunting poachers, land grabs, and even violence, the environmentalists, activists and friends of the Sasyk and its neighboring estuaries remain positive. They push forward with defending one of the most beautiful parts of Ukraine - making it known to the public and creating an environment that is cleaner, safer, and inclusive.
ANDREA'S SOCIAL MEDIA:
https://twitter.com/odezynska
https://www.facebook.com/odezynska
https://www.instagram.com/odezynska/
www.odezynska.com
The Ukrainian Museum's exhibitions and programs are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Ukrainian Museum, 222 E 6th St, New York, United States

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