Following “O Canada,” president of SAESC.EKÜK Erik Kõvamees gave a short speech entitled “What are we commemorating?”, and Lilian read greetings from the Honorary Consuls Evaleen Jaager Roy and Evi Mustel. Thereafter, guest speaker Piret Noorhani, visiting from Toronto, spoke thoughtfully about the notions of belonging and survival, and the choir Läänetuul led by Thomas Kirves performed Eesti mu südame sünnimaa and Mu isamaa on minu arm.
Fotogalerii
Photos: Lilian Olljum and Katrin McLean
The choir performance was followed by the premiere of FILMIST Stuudio: Vancouver, the respective reminiscences of Erli Lepik, Ruth Lige, Inge Kozevnikov, Enda Bardell, Marje Suurkask, Lydia Naano, and Raul Vabasalu, describing what they experienced during the Mass Flight of 1944 and their eventual settlement in British Columbia. The movie was filmed in August 2024 by Toronto-based ruudi productions with on-site support from Ellen Valter, all of whom travelled from Ontario to record the interviews, and quickly returned home to do the editing. Most of the interviewees were present at Meie Kodu and supported by many family members, and the emotion of all in attendance was palpable. The event concluded with the Estonian national anthem and a reception.
Prior to the commemoration, and to celebrate the community, SAESC.EKÜK had politely requested that all recipients of any teenetemärk wear them according to the official recommendations of the Republic of Estonia, and these, alongside rahvariided, and most importantly, the presence of the film stars themselves, were intended as the basis for many informative conversations.
SAESC.EKÜK encourages everyone to donate to charities that made this event and others like it both possible and successful
The film as such was the product of a close cooperative venture between Executive Producers Lilian Olljum and Ellen Valter, the Estonian Arts Centre (EAC), SAESC.EKÜK, and ruudi productions, supported by Estonian Foundation of Canada (EFC), Estonian Central Council in Canada (ECC), Museum of Estonians Abroad (Väliseesti Muuseum or VEMU), as well as private donors and many volunteers. SAESC.EKÜK would like to thank everybody involved with the production of this film, from labourers to funders and everyone in-between, for their hard work, without which this minor miracle — of capturing the stories of local people, and doing so in record time — would not have been possible.
It was very special to hear, via Piret, Tiit Romet’s (Chair of VEMU’s Board of Directors) greeting and announcement of funding. SAESC.EKÜK thanks Piret Noorhani for her participation and presentation, as well as Tiit and all of VEMU. SAESC.EKÜK and EAC would also like to thank EFC for their encouragement and financial support of the commemoration event. Moreover, SAESC.EKÜK is very thankful to EFC for supporting the entire 2024 commemoration series of events in Vancouver.
SAESC.EKÜK encourages everyone to donate to charities that made this event and others like it both possible and successful, and most certainly to EFC, whose steadfast support has allowed SAESC.EKÜK to continue to share historical context and valuable knowledge, develop the Estonian Archives in Vancouver (EAV) for which it is responsible, and offer formative experiences as concerns Estonian history in the year 2024.
Erik Kõvamees (who is himself thankful for comments made by Lilian Olljum, Astrid Kirves, and Ellen Valter!)
