Dickinson Faculty Collaborate on Award-Winning Documentary
Film offers poignant views of global refugee crisis
Jennifer Blyth and Andy Bale in Rubendall Recital Hall, where the score for the documentary was recorded. Photo by Dan Loh.
A timely documentary featuring the work of two Dickinsonians is gaining industry recognition for its poignant perspective on global events. Highlighting the personal stories of Ukrainian refugees in Ireland, A Return Home shines new light on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the plight of migrants worldwide. It recently garnered two early film-festival awards.
The 30-minute, cinema-verite film features the photographic work of Andy Bale, visiting lecturer in art & art history, and music performed by Jennifer Blyth, professor of music. It follows Nataliia Ruda, a Ukrainian journalist, as she speaks with Ukrainians seeking refuge in Ireland, a country that’s welcomed more than 112,000 Ukrainian refugees since the start of the current war.
“We wanted to include people in this project who believe in what we’re doing—in sharing stories that need to be shared—and would really put their hearts into the work.”
A Return Home is part of “ARRIVALS: What's Left Behind, What Lies Ahead,” a series launched in 2019 by Bale in partnership with Jon Cox, a professor at the University of Delaware. Bale, the film’s lead photographer, and Cox, its director, met Ruda, a native of Ukraine's hard-hit Donbas region, during an “Arrivals” shoot in Slovakia and were eager to share her story in film. They brought on filmmaker Ben Hemmings to shape the visual narrative and enlisted a Ukrainian, Vadym Shapran, to edit the footage.
“We wanted to include people in this project who believe in what we’re doing—in sharing stories that need to be shared—and would really put their hearts into the work,” Bale says.