Santa Barbara 2022

Overview

Inspired by the 1980s American soap opera, Santa Barbara, Svetlana became a mail-order bride from post-Soviet Russia to America. She took her two children with her to California to meet a stranger, a man who would soon become her husband and father to her children. The film brings together the audition process, behind- the-scenes footage, archival home movies, scripted scenes, and an interview with the director's mother, Svetlana. This project is an immersive form of visual storytelling that emp