Jenny
short film
Synopsis
She moved from Russia to Canada years ago with her son. Now she is old, yet she still misses her home. In her letters to a friend, Jenny shares her sweet memories of their past life and masks the miseries she has to deal with in the present. Her now grown-up son isn't a nice little kid anymore, but an abusive alcoholic.
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Details
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Genre: drama, human rights, elderly, biography
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Written,directed, edited: Nika Belianina
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Starring: Jenny Kuvardina, Simon Reynolds
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Year: 2009
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Length: 6:45
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Language: Russian and English, with English subtitles
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Produced by: Clark Johnson, Clarkwork Productions
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Screenings
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NSI online film festival, Canada, 2013
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Artivist Film Festival, Hollywood, USA, 2009
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ION Film Festival, Port Harcourt, Nigeria, human rights film festival, 2009
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15th Stalker International FF, Moscow, Russia, human rights film festival, 2009
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Steps International Rights Protection Film Festival, Kharkiv, Ukraine, 2009
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DeboshirFilm - Pure Dreams Film Festival, St. Petersburg, Russia, 2009
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Purchased by tv-channel "The Country" with 350 cities of broadcasting in Russia and ex-USSR republics.
Fun fact:
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Nika's actual grandmother Dina (legal name Jenny) always dreamed to be a film star. She had her dream fulfilled at the age of 82 by playing the lead role in this film, which is inspired by the stories from her life. Together with the director, Jenny attended the film's screening at the Artivist film festival in the heart of Hollywood. Something she couldn't even imagine in her wildest dreams. She proudly walked the red carpet and hugged the palm trees. Few years later at the age of 86 Jenny moved back to Russia after living in Canada for 6 years. In November of 2021 she has celebrated her 96th birthday in Moscow.
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