“Family Portrait in Black and White” is an emotional documentary about a very unusual family in Ukraine. Directed by Julia Ivanova, Vancouver based Ukrainian-Canadian filmmaker.
Screens at Denman Cinema, Vancouver, May 11th through 17th, 2012, – 4:00pm daily
Mother’s Day Event, Sunday, May 13th – 4:00PM – Filmmakers in attendance
“Family Portrait in Black and White” – winner at Hot Docs Film Festival for Best Canadian Feature and a Genie Awards Nominee. This documentary dissects a life of a foster mother who, like “An Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe”, has taken upon herself the task of raising 17 orphans single-handedly.
Olga Nenya is as tough as nails and a strong believer in communal responsibility over individual freedom. Though what sets Olga apart from her neighbours in rural Ukraine is the complete absence of racial prejudice. She defies the society that surrounds her by fostering 16 bi-racial orphans abandoned by their Ukrainian mothers.
The children’s fathers are African students who come to Ukraine to study but soon return home deserting the children as well. Olga refuses to allow these children to grow up in institutions and has collected them all under one roof of her home. The film captures three turbulent years that see her brood of foster children grow into rambunctious teenagers.
Family Portrait in Black and White has screened at film festivals all over the world – from Korea to Bermuda, from Mumbai to Canary Islands, including Sundance, Los Angeles, Vancouver and numerous other festivals in North America. It won awards internationally as well as in Canada and has been praised by the critics.
Director Julia Ivanova is an accomplished Canadian documentary filmmaker whose film “True Love or Marriage Fraud? Price of Heartache” contributed to recent changes to the spousal sponsorship regulations in Canada. She also made “10 Days=Wife: Love Translated”, a humorous look at the international dating industry that follows fifteen Western men on a tour to find a wife in Odessa.
Currently Julia is working on a documentary “High Five: an Adoption Saga”, a film about a typical Canadian couple that adopts five brothers and sisters in the Ukraine. High Five will be released later this year. Julia is based in Vancouver, BC.
The film has a beautiful music score by a Mission-based multi-instrumentalist Boris Sichon with vocals by remarkably talented, nine-years-old Rebecca Sichon.
Official Website, trailer: www.familyportraitthefilm.com