Ihor Bilozir: at the turn of the epochs

The video is a documentary about Ihor Bilohir, a composer, singer, and one of the leaders of the Vatra band, as well as the development of Ukrainian music in the 1980s.

Interview: Yurii Kedrynskyi, musician of Vatra in 1979-1990; Petro Zapotichnyi, author of lyrics by Ihor Bilozir; Mykhailo Shved, PhD in art history and researcher of Ihor Bilozir's work; Bohdan Stelmakh, author of lyrics by Ihor Bilozir; Oksana Bilozir, People's Artist of Ukraine; Marian Shunevych, soloist of Vatra in 1980-1992, Mykola Kulyk - artistic director of the Trembita chapel, Zenoviy Levkovsky - musical director of the Vatra Vocal Ensemble in 1980-1986,

The film uses materials from Ihor Havryliuk's personal archive and fragments from documentaries and feature films: “The Wall”, ‘Vatra Invites to a Holiday’, ‘Vatra in the Carpathians’, ‘Carpathian Watercolors’, ‘Lviv Sketches’.

Reference: Ihor Bilozir was born on March 24, 1955 in Radekhiv, Lviv region. Since 1977, he has been the director of the Rhythms of the Carpathians All-Star Ensemble, and since 1979, he has been the artistic director and soloist of the Vatra All-Star Ensemble.

On May 8, 2000, he was beaten in the Tsar's Coffee cafe in Lviv for interfering with Russian chanson with his songs. Doctors fought for his life for twenty days. On May 28, 2000, Ihor Bilozir died as a result of his injuries. The musician was buried at the Lychakiv Cemetery.

Thousands of people came to say goodbye to him. According to various estimates, Ihor Bilozir's funeral was attended by between one hundred and two hundred thousand people.