ACTS OF IMAGINATION (Carolyn Combs). 88 minutes. Opens Thursday (November 1) at the Royal (608 College) and plays Sunday (November 4) and November 15. 416-534-5252. Rating: NN
If only Acts Of Imagination lived up to its lofty title.
Recent Ukrainian immigrants Katya (Stephanie Hayes) and Jaroslaw(Billy Marchenski) are barely scraping by in Vancouver. She workspart-time and is haunted by the mysterious death of her mother,while he (for some reason his English is much better than hers) hasjust been fired and wants a more comfy life with his single-momKorean-Canadian girlfriend (Maki Nagisa).
As the siblings attempt to pay the rent, first-time director CarolynCombs sluggishly tries to tell a story about survival, hope andfamily ties among new Canadians. But the underwritten script is lesssuggestive about their past than it is vague and annoying.
The November 1 screening is followed by a panel discussion with thefilmmakers and guest Dr. Yuri Shevchuk, a lecturer in Ukrainianlanguage and culture at Colombia University.
