IN THE MONUMENT
documentary by Boris Ivanov

Documentary explores the evolution of Holocaust commemoration and monument building in the last 70 years. Interviewing world renowned architects, scholars and artists, we learn what Holocaust commemoration means today and what is the role of public art in preserving the history for the future. The project also examines six shortlisted designs and the building of the Canadian National Holocaust Monument in Ottawa. How does one represent Holocaust with art and design in the 21st century?

Subject: Arts & Culture, Holocaust, Jewish Studies, Architecture, Design, Eastern Europe, History

FAMILY PORTRAIT IN BLACK AND WHITE
documentary by Julia Ivanova

In a small village in racially charged Ukraine, headstrong Olga Nenya is foster-mom to 16 Ukrainian-African orphans. Despite hardships caused by their lack of money and the racist attitudes of their compatriots, these abandoned kids function as a family unit under Olga’s relentless dictatorial guidance. The film offers deep insight into a fraught community surrounding this one-of-a-kind clan and into the passions, hopes and hardships of a unique self-made family.

Subject: Eastern Europe, African Studies, Youth & Families, Human Rights, Multicultural Studies, Women Studies, International Adoption, Fostering

HIGH FIVE: a Suburban Adoption Saga
documentary by Julia Ivanova

Cathy and Martin Ward travel to Ukraine to adopt five siblings, the youngest 6 and the oldest 17. The children are separated when only the adoption of the two middle sisters goes through. When a year later the kids are re-united, Yuliya, the oldest girl, who had years of assuming the role of protective mother in the orphanage, can not find her place in a new family. She favors Martin over Cathy and grieves the loss of the bond with siblings.The camera stays with the family for another three years capturing the complicated reality of international adoption mixed with the dramatic intensity of teenage years and the growing pains of a family of two becoming a family of seven.

Subject: Eastern Europe, Youth & Families, Human Rights, Multicultural Studies, Women Studies, International Adoption

FROM RUSSIA, FOR LOVE
documentary by Julia Ivanova

What happens when two Western couples adopt Russian orphans? How will the children cope in their new homes and will they be able to reconcile feelings for their new families with loyalty towards the kin they have left behind? This moving documentary follows Kira and Lara through their first three years in Canada. Initially, both girls are eager to leave the orphanage but they soon find that it’s not so easy to leave their pasts behind. And what starts out as straightforward adoptions soon become more complicated for everyone involved.

Subject: Eastern Europe, Youth & Families, Human Rights, Multicultural Studies, Women Studies, International Adoption

LOVING A STRANGER
documentary by Julia Ivanova

Four North American women fall in love with younger Muslim men from Morocco, Pakistan and Guinea. What follows are years of longing, heartbreak and betrayal. Two cultures clash leaving the women question themselves and the honesty of their partner's motives. In the end, some men arrive in North America but whether for true love or marriage fraud... the answer is not that simple.

Subject: Women's Studies/Men's Studies, Immigration & Border Studies, Multicultural Studies, Human Rights, Global Issues, Arab Studies, Religion

MOSCOW FREESTYLE
documentary by Julia Ivanova

This is a portrait of Russia dealing with Chechen terrorist attacks including Beslan School Hostage Crisis from the perspective of American and Canadian ESL teachers.

For young Westerners, teaching English abroad seems like the perfect opportunity to see the world and find themselves. These fun-loving teachers get a reality check on the streets of Moscow, where they meet greedy policemen, fight with surly locals, and experience Russian nationalism while trying to stay away from terrorist bombings and enjoy the freedom of lawlessness... Their romanticism gets bruised but dies last.

Subject: Education, Travel, Youth, Human Rights, Eastern Europe, Terrorism, Teacher-Students, English Language Study, Russia

10 DAYS=WIFE: LOVE TRANSLATED
documentary by Julia Ivanova

Modern day dating can be a real headache. For men with little experience or those burned by an ugly divorce, the idea of looking for a wife in a foreign country, known for its solid family values, seems like a viable solution. Come on an intense personal journey with ANASTASIA DATING TOURS to Ukraine! Ten Western men are determined to find a spouse during their trip to the city of Odessa. They have only ten days but countless opportunities to meet the right woman - or fall for a scammer in this land of stunning beauties. Not all men are losers and not all women are gold diggers, but the abundance of romantic opportunities brings out the best and the worst in human nature.

Subject: Women's Studies/Men's Studies, Immigration & Border Studies, Social Studies, Multicultural Studies, Eastern European Studies

FATHERHOOD DREAMS
documentary by Julia Ivanova

This documentary invites people into the day-to-day lives of gay dads Scott, Steve, Randy and Drew, who are fathers through ADOPTION, CO-PARENTING and SURROGACY. We'll stay with Steve and his co-parenting partners, lesbian mothers Coreen and Wendy while they are raising two children on an isolated island. We'll hear from a surrogate mother expecting Scott's twins. And we'll visit the house of adopted child's birth family that chose Randy and Drew, a gay family, to be the parents to baby Jack. These men represent a new possibility, showing how in a modern world gay parenting can transform from a distant dream into a reality.

Subject: Men's Studies, LGBT, Parenting, Children, Youth & Families, Human Rights, Adoption, Gay Marriage