Synopsis

This film is about my grandfather, Michael Scherbak, and his memories of being an Ost-Arbeiter (German for Eastern Worker) during World War II. He and his family were taken from Ukraine, which at the time part of the USSR, to work in slave-labor camps in Germany. When the filming began, he had begun to develop dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. This deconstruction of his memories became an integral element of the story.

Awards & Screenings

• “Best Direction” – Festiv’elles Film Festival (2007)
• “Best of the Fest” – Mel Hoppenheim Film Festival (2007)
• “Short Film Corner” of the Cannes International Film Festival  (2008)
• In Wolrd Competition at the Iran International Documentary Film Festival (2008)
• National Screen Institute Online Film Festival (2008)
• Montreal World Film Festival (2007)
• Radio-Canada Digital Diversity Competition (2007)
• Cinematheque Quebecoise (2008)

Press

“…where memory meets cinema” -sep7.ca

“…The narrative was deliberately fragmented, leaving the audience to create meaning out of the close-ups of the elder Scherbak’s face, the chessboard and his aged hands.” -Concordia Journal