'Belsat' documentary receives prize at XVII 'Fate of Poles' Festival


“Refugees 1915-1922”

The documentary film “Refugees 1915-1922”, directed by Yury Kalina has received the 3rd prize in the ‘Documentary with Elements of Reconstruction’ category.

The film tells viewers about the events that began in 1915. The Russian army, which was retreating from the western provinces, left the approaching Germans a piece of scorched land. Historians estimate that nearly three million people fled their homes. It was the largest forced migration in the XX century in this region of Europe.

Those who survived the horror, reached the Don, Siberia, Caucasus and Central Asia. There they witnessed two revolutions and a bloody civil war. Later, they returned to their villages, already in the restored Poland. We saw burned farms, hunger and distrust of the authorities. But we were happy anyway, because about 30% of the refugees simply had not survived.

Historical account of the events focused on the description of military events. The villagers did not keep diaries, oral histories were mostly forgotten.

The film “Refugees 1915-1922” premiered on the “Belsat TV” on 8 October, 2017.

This year’s festival received 80 works (films, radio programs and multimedia) from Belarus, Australia, Canada, USA, UK, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, and Poland.

The festival is organized by the ‘Polska-Europa-Polonia’ Foundation in collaboration with the Polish Journalists Society and the Foundation of journalistic solidarity with the support of the Polish diaspora.

belsat.eu

TWITTER