Silver Lands. The Chronicles of Carpatho-Ukraine 1919-1939. (DVD+CD).

The research adviser of the film, a historian Olexander Pahirya, says: "No event is invented, all the facts are supported with documents and participants’ testimonies. The film narrates the story of the Carpathian Ukraine in three lines: documentary, by means of "living history" (interviews), and artistic reconstruction of individual episodes. It is the truth that still remains unknown to many of us in Ukraine".
"For centuries, the people of Transcarpathia were isolated by politics, geography and poverty. Following WW1, as neighbouring states eyed the strategic and material potential of Transcarpathia, the region experienced a cultural renaissance. In 1939, as Europe prepared for war, the battle for control of the region escalated. Against a swell of political and military interventions, the republic of Carpatho-Ukraine was born, sowing the seeds for an independent Ukraine.

On September 10, 1919, Transcarpathia became part of the Czechoslovak Republic under the official name of Subcarpathian Rus'. The interwar period signaled a national and cultural revival for Ruthenian Ukrainians.

On September 29, 1938, the Munich conference was held. The Sudeten region of Czechoslovakia was ceded to the Third Reich. In an attempt to save the country, the Czecho-Slovak government offered concessions to Slovaks and Ukrainians. At the request of the political parties in Subcarpathian Rus, Prague appointed its first independent government. This first autonomous Ukrainian province within the Czecho-Slovak federation ended with Carpatho-Ukraine proclaiming independence on the March 14, 1939."

Director: Taras Khymych

Sound director: Lyubomyr Solomchenko

Producer: Taras Choliy

Sound producer: Roman Mikulsky

Narrator: Edward Burns (eng), Pavlo Nechytaylo (ukr).

The movie is in Ukrainian, English.

Video format - PAL

DVD Region: ALL