Film featuring Mystetskyi Arsenal team, singer ONUKA wins Emmy Award

The Culture Quest project's Facebook page reports.

A special one-hour episode of Culture Quest: Ukraine. Ukrainian cultural resistance during war, directed by Ian Grant, won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Daytime Special. The Culture Quest project is aired on the American PBS television channel.

Ian Grant filmed the episode “Cultural Quest: Ukraine” together with cinematographer Jan Levasseur during a visit to Ukraine in September 2022. According to the description, this episode tells the story of everything that people across Ukraine's cultural spectrum are doing to resist the war, inspire their countrymen, and remind the rest of the world why Ukraine is worth fighting for.

“No question the win comes with bittersweet emotions when juxtaposed with the cold reality of the war that continues on in Ukraine. And it’s not possible to say how much I wish my Ukrainian friends could have been up on that Emmy stage to receive this award in person…but that’s simply not the reality Ukrainians live in right now,” said the director.

The film consists of interviews with Olesia Ostrovska-Liuta, director of the Mystetskyi Arsenal Museum, Katia Taylor, head of cultural projects, Paint Hunters street artists and the Feldman sisters, creators of the Toronto Television project, Nata Zhyzhchenko from the ONUKA project, and Oleksandra Zaritska from KAZKA. The film features music by ONUKA, KAZKA, DakhaBrakha, and Okean Elzy.

“We relied heavily on our interviewees throughout the entire production. Each person we were with not only took time out of their already turbulent lives to film with us, but they also generously answered all of my editing questions for weeks after we filmed. In particular, Olesia Ostrovska-Liuta and her team at Mystetskyi Arsenal Museum and Nata from the band ONUKA not only took on their own roles in the episode but are responsible for major production elements and details throughout the whole show - and because of that, their names are also on this Emmy along with my fellow editor Trevor Hyslop and the guy I’ve traveled around the world with for this series - cinematographer Ian Levasseur,” said Grant.

The director thanked the sponsors from Gustavus Adolphus College for seeing the value in telling this story and presenting it to the world.

“It was an incredible journey on so many levels, and while there was no shortage of hard things we saw and talked about, there was also no doubt about the resilience of the people we met and the determination of the Ukrainian people to fight for their country and their culture,” Grant added.

Grant added that it had been an incredible journey on many levels. Despite encountering numerous hardships, there was no doubt about the resilience of the people they met and the determination of the Ukrainian people to fight for their country and culture.