Yasha’s Tapochki is now public and available for all to watch.

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Yasha’s Tapochki is a short film, partially funded by the Blueprint Fellowship of COJECO.
Directed by Irina Gorovaia
Written by Irina Gorovaia and Marina Gasparyan

Tensions arise between two generations of Russian Jewish women when dealing with the tragic loss of the family patriarch.

In Russian culture, so much is left unsaid, everything from the mountain of tragedy that is suicide, to the grains of sand that are the unspoken rules which make up daily life. Immigrating to New York City with my parents at a young age, I have always struggled between the repressed “get over it and move on” Russian mentality, and the more open “let’s talk about our feelings” American one. There is a lot of generational trauma that has been passed down in my family. Most of my mother’s Jewish family was killed during the Holocaust, and many of my father’s family members family died from the cold harsh conditions of the Siberian landscape where they grew up. Yet, with all of this unresolved trauma that my family has gone through, we still manage to come together, love each other, and find moments of joy in our lives. 

My intention for this film was to show a peek into the different ways that the women in my culture deal with traumatic events, and the clash of mentalities between generations. The visual style reflects the stoic, static, unmoving nature of Russian expression. In my experience, beneath this stoicism is always love and understanding and I strove to depict that in the film - that this family’s love for one another remains strong even if unexpressed.

As a survivor of suicide, I hope to provide a small glimpse into the painful journey the ones left behind must endure to make sense of losing someone they hold so dear.

POST PRODUCTION CREW

Original Score: Dana Bergwall
Editor: Shane Jensen
Color: Luke Cahill
Sound Design & Mix: Eric Ronnie Stapleton