Family Portrait in Black and White

Olga Nenya is a foster mother to sixteen black orphans in Ukraine – where 99.9% of the population is white and where race does matter. Olga is a loving mother but she is not Mother Teresa; she bears a closer resemblance to a platoon leader. Raised by the Soviet regime, she believes in communal responsibility over individual freedom and runs the family with a Stalinist determination. What Olga can’t control is how the modern world is interconnected. These kids from a tiny town in Ukraine spend summers with host families in France and Italy year after year. When the European families offer to adopt her kids, Olga refuses,despite being aware of what awaits a black Ukrainian beyond the protective shield of her family. While Olga is on a crusade to save her children from the unjust world that surrounds them, she is also determined to shape their future according to her own, often limited vision.
Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.

Script: Julia Ivanova
Cinematography: Julia Ivanova, Stanislav Shakhov
Editing: Julia Ivanova
Sound: Jamie Mahaffey
Music: Boris Sichon
Production: Interfilm Productions Inc., Canada T. +1 604 290 3002 F. +1 604 899 4353 info@interfilm.ca www.familyportraitthefilm.com
Producers: Boris Ivanov, Mike Jackson
Format: HDCAM Color
Production Country: Canada
Production Year: 2011
Duration: 99
Contact: The Film Sales Company, USA Andrew Herwitz T. +1 212 481 5020 F. +1 212 481 5021 contact@filmsalescorp.com www.filmsalescorp.com
Awards
Grand Prize Best Canadian Feature - Hot Docs Film Festival 2011, Canada
AECID Cultural Diversity Award and 3rd Prize of the Time of History section - Valladolid IFF 2011, Spain 
Audience Award - MiradasDoc FF 2011, Canary Islands

Julia Ivanova

Filmography

2000 From Russia, For Love
2003 I Want a Woman
2006 Moscow Freestyle
2008 Fatherhood Dreams
2010 True Love or Marriage Fraud
2010 Love Translated: 10 Days=Wife
2011 Family Portrait in Black and White