Mykola Sierov
Sierov Mykola Panasovych’s collection consists of films made in the period of 1980-1990 on Super8 and 8mm film/camera. The films can be divided thematically into two groups: political - that shows meetings, rallies and demonstrations in the Donetsk region, for example, May Day demonstrations in the early 1980s, but also people's rallies in the early 1990s, which were usually organized by Rukh members (the People's Movement of Ukraine); and a group of home movies, which depicts holidays and vacations with family, friends and colleagues.
All films were made by Mykola Serov.
Episodes of films with a political plot show posters, appeals and symbols of that time. For instance, Soviet symbols at the parade in the early 1980s in honor of the anniversary of the October Revolution. Workers and employees of the Kostiantynivka chemical plant and the electrical shop were actively involved in such events. And, for another distinct example, during the general May Day demonstration in Kostyantynivka in 1991, there were many workers with posters with such slogans as "People's Movement for Sovereign Ukraine", "...Freedom to Stepan Khmara". Representatives of the People's Movement of Ukraine often held rallies in the early 1990s in the Donetsk region, namely in Donetsk and Kostiantynivka. Sierov Mykola was an active participant in all these events, and he filmed them on his camera.
Another part of the collection is home movies at leisure: a family walk in the city, a vacation in the countryside, a picnic in nature. It generally depicts landscapes of nature, family life and the countryside, which Mykola Sierov's family often visited in their spare time. There are also in the collection some episodes from the recreation of employees and workers of the plant, usually they celebrated together workers' birthdays or general national holidays. In addition, the film collection contains a separate episode in the apartment of Mykola Serov.
In general, in Sierov's films, episodes with different plots, which also take place at different seasons, are often linked together. The films are silent.
Mykola Sierov is a former worker of the Kostiantynivka chemical plant, who was an active participant of national movements in Donetsk region during the Soviet period. Since 1989 he has participated in the creation of Rukh (“Narodnyi Rukh Ukrajiny” uk; The People's Movement of Ukraine eng), TUM (“Tovarystvo ukrainskoi movy” uk; Ukrainian Language Society eng), “Prosvita”. He distributed Ukrainian newspapers, leaflets and symbols, as well as organized rallies and protests, in fact, he was a participant of the Orange Revolution in Donetsk region in 2004. In particular, Mykola Serov is a member of the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists.
Mykola Sierov's family on his mother's and father's lines was a witness but also a victim of the Soviet terror, which is why he is interested in researching both personal materials and archives of his region. As Mykola Sierov notes about the reason for his interest: "Here, probably, not only the gene of disobedience but a certain call played a role. My mother - Korniienko, whose family was dekulakized, and her parents - my maternal grandfathers from the Luhansk region, played a lot. The village of Bilokurakyne. They died. They were dekulakized in the 1930s, and in 1933 they died of starvation. The whole village of Bilokurakyne perished. My mother was left (she was the youngest) an orphan."
He also adds that his "paternal grandfather died in the First World War. My father fought in Finland. The army, then Finnish, then German-Soviet War. He defended the Kola Peninsula for Russia... For which I apologize to the Finnish people... So maybe it played a role."
Mykola Sierov became a local historian of Donetsk region in 2012, later he joined the National Union of Researchers of Local History of Ukraine. He studied the materials of the Kostiantynivka Bottle Factory and Kyiv and Donetsk archives. He also was the head of the Kostiantynivka city organization of the All-Ukrainian “Prosvita” Society named after Taras Shevchenko.
