Winnipeg composer channels Ukrainian refugees’ stories in powerful new documentary

August 12, 2024 Canuck

When immigrants settle in a new country, their hearts often remain with their home country.

So how do they cope when that country is under attack?

For Tetyana Haraschuk, 26, a Ukraine-born Winnipeg musician, the answer to that question lies in the thing she knows best: music.

“When the war first started, it really hit me and I was not in a good place,” she said.

So Haraschuk searched for a way to help those affected by the Russian invasion and channel her own feelings of helplessness.

Voices of Freedom, a new hour-long documentary produced for CBC’s Absolutely Canadian, is the result, in part.

The film chronicles Haraschuk’s journey of processing the Russia-Ukraine war through music. Produced by Winnipeg-based Ice River Films, the film follows Haraschuk as she talks to Ukrainian refugees about their experiences fleeing the war.

A young woman with dark hair sits on a chair leaning forward. She is listening to a blonde woman who is in the foreground with her back to the camera. — Haraschuk spent months speaking to Ukrainians who fled the war. She spoke to 21 refugees, and then travelled to reunite with her cousin and grandmother in Poland, where they initially fled after the war began. (Sam Karney)

In all, she spoke to 21 refugees, and then travelled to Poland to reunite with her cousin and grandmother, who fled the war. (Her family has since returned to Ukraine.)

“I had to sit on the receiving end of hours of conversations about something horrible,” she said. “It was one of the most emotionally hard things that I have ever had to do.”

Haraschuk, a multi-instrumentalist, emotionally processed the content of those conversations. Seven themes emerged, including anxiety, dreams, and powerless. Haraschuk then composed one song for each theme.

Her album will be released on Spotify on Aug. 16.

Despite the weight of the stories — some of which are documented in the film — co-producer and director Sam Karney insists that this documentary is an important film for Canadians to see.

“The war’s been … going on for two years. And of course, naturally, there’s a bit of war fatigue,” said Karney.

“Hopefully the film gets people to … understand that there’s still people whose lives are being turned upside down.”

Voices of Freedom will premiere with a free screening, followed by a question and answer session, on Aug. 15 at 8 p.m. at the Park Theatre in Winnipeg. The tickets are free and can be booked online here.

A woman wearing glasses and headphones smiles inside a recording booth. Another musician wearing an orange hat and glasses stands nearby. — Inside the recording studio, Haraschuk directs a recording of one of the songs she composed based on her conversations with refugees. (Sam Karney)

Haraschuk hopes that audiences take away not just an understanding of the horrors of the two-and-a half-year-long war — she hopes Voices of Freedom will enhance Canadians’ empathy for not just refugees, but for humankind.

“The world is in a really bad place right now. I think … that you just have to be a little more invested in the world than you think you have to be,” said Haraschuk, who still has close family living in Ukraine.

“You don’t have to feel like you need to solve all the world’s problems, but you could at least start caring about [your neighbour] who lives across the street and help her, and … share each other’s pain, and share each other’s joy. “

Voices of Freedom streams free on CBC Gem starting Aug. 16.

It will air on CBC TV in Manitoba on Aug 17 at 8 p.m. CT.

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