Diana Markosian

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 employs memory and performance in equal measure to show the journey of immigrating to America.

The artist captures the bittersweet journey of reuniting with her estranged father after searching for him for fifteen years.