Bohdana Smyrnova
Writing
Biography
Bohdana Smyrnova is a film writer/director of intimate female driven dramas. With a captive eye for mixed messages, Smyrnova has worked out a meticulous improvisational script development technique that provides actors space to explore and actively engage, which later translates beautifully on-screen in authentic and idiosyncratic portraits. She holds an MFA in film production from NYU (USA) where she was Dean’s Fellow, and a BA from Karpenko-Karyi institute of Theatrical Arts in Ukraine. She is an alumna of presigious Cannes Film Festival Residence and Script East screenwriting lab. Her short films were screened at over 350 events around the world, including Rotterdam IFF, Clermont-Ferrand, Slamdance, Taipei Golden Horse, and French theatrical release. Bohdana’s films/projects won over 20 awards. She has taught film in Syracuse and Wesleyan universities. She is currently preparing her debut feature film. Smyrnova splits her time between the USA and Ukraine.
Known For
A mother gives her daughter a box full of old, coloured little vinyl records. The daughter may listen to them, but she should never, ever, play the green one.
Green Vinyl
Olympia Dukakis and Rose Gregorio play Greek-American women in their 70s who create stories to avoid the realities of growing older.
Irene & Marie
A small-scale romantic love story, shot with a digital camera in black & white and in a documentary style. We follow the conversation between two lovers, each on a different side of the world; he is in Recife, she is in Kyiv. On one side is dark, on the other light, but both experience the same emotions and hence feel nearness and contact.
Friday Night, Saturday Morning
A young, undocumented mother gets into a risky situation to make a life for herself and her daughter.
Marisol
Prom nears and things seem to be spiraling out of control for the typically composed Isatu. In this coming of age story, West African tradition conflicts with American idealism as Isatu is forced to reassess her idea of the perfect dress.
African Booty Scratcher
An internet prankster documents the increasingly odd behavior of his new roommate, Alan.
Alan at Night
A middle-class family living in a house filled with superfluous electronic appliances see the arrival of a new item, a 29" TV-set.
Eletrodoméstica
Seventeen-year-old Alina is in love with an imposing Frenchman. Suddenly, she loses her sense of humor. But not for long.
Les demarches des papiers
Khanya and Sandiswa are left outside the local horse gambling arena by their father, under the strict instructions to not leave the car. Khanya receives her period and makes the decision to enter the arena, when she is caught by her father, the true confines of their delicate relationship come to light.
Tab
After an unspoken line is crossed, three women are forced to navigate strange passageways and painful secrets.
Outer Space Love Story
An ambitious actress finds her way, and herself, on the road to building a character.
The Callback
When climbing a tree in New York, Polish immigrant Paulina gets a hole in her stockings. Someone's got to stitch it.
Ramona's New Dresser
2020 has become the year of empty streets in the city that never sleeps – New York. In spring and summer the parks have become one of the few places where you’re allowed to be during the quarantine. It created or strengthened park subculture. The author used here everyday walks in Sunset Park in Brooklyn to preserved her sanity and create a portrait of mass tragedy and the way it was overcome.
When My Sun Sets
A standing Sunday lunch is born after a grandmother invites herself to her granddaughter’s walk-up.
Nana
Vira, a forty-year-old Ukrainian immigrant in New York, is preparing for her sister’s funeral. Amongst all her responsibilities, Vira suddenly finds herself falling in love…
Her Seat Is Vacant
Saturday Morning Blues is a coming-of-age story about a young girl trapped between adolescence and adulthood. The light of morning brings a sleepover, and a friendship to an abrupt and painful ending, slamming 15-year Sonya against the constraints of her reality.