Santa Barbara

Inspired by the 1980s American soap opera Santa Barbara Svetlana became a mailorder bride from postSoviet 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 thescenes footage archival home movies scripted scenes and an interview with the directors mother Svetlana This project is an immersive form of visual storytelling that employs memory and performance in equal measure to show the journey of immigrating to America