Odessa, TX

Natasha has reached the end of her life but she’s not ready to go. As she’s bedridden in her daughter’s house in Texas, she longs for her former life in Ukraine. But Ana, Natasha’s daughter and primary caregiver, becomes overburdened by her mother’s deteriorating mind and body.

The only solace Natasha finds is in her dreams, where she’s transported back to her life in the Soviet Union with her siblings that are long gone. The end approaches. Natasha loses control of herself. Screaming at her daughter and forgetting her own grandchild. The dreams of her past become her only sanctuary.

  • Alex Shurepov
    Director
    Mother of Chernobyl
  • Alex Shurepov
    Writer
  • Daniela Munoz
    Producer
  • Laura Kim
    Production Designer
  • Graycen Skelecki
    Cinematographer
  • Alex Shurepov
    Editor
  • Adam Cox
    Sound Designer
  • Natasha Goubskaya
    Key Cast
    "Natasha"
  • Anna Semenova
    Key Cast
    "Yulia"
  • Daria Simakova
    Key Cast
    "Ana"
  • Oleg Kourov
    Key Cast
    "Ivan"
  • Alina Lawrence
    Key Cast
    "Julia"
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short, Student
  • Runtime:
    19 minutes 30 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 28, 2025
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States, Ukraine
  • Language:
    English, Russian, Ukrainian
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital, Motion Film
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Chapman University
Director Biography - Alex Shurepov

Alex was born and raised in Texas, spending summers in Ukraine where his mother is from. He directed his first short film, Mother of Chernobyl, at UC Santa Barbara as a freshman. It went on to reach international success, premiering at SBIFF and winning best student at the Swindon International Film Festival.

After finishing his film degree at Chapman University with Odessa, TX as his thesis, Alex primarily works as a cinematographer. Although he is based in Los Angeles, Alex’s film work has taken him back to Ukraine to document the ongoing war.

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Director Statement

When I was a teenager, I went to say goodnight to my grandmother only to find her disoriented and experiencing septic shock. When the EMT asked her where she thought she was, she said Leningrad. This was 2016 in Texas. My grandmother only lived in Leningrad for a few years as a child in the 1960s, spending the majority of her life in Kyiv. That moment has always stuck with me and I ask myself what that must have felt like, to feel like you’re back in time half a century ago. 

My grandmother passed away in 2021 and she experienced dementia-related psychosis for the last months of her life. And while the trauma of that experience can’t be overstated, I found myself imagining what she saw in those hazy moments where she thought she was back with her family that had passed away years prior in Ukraine. This film is an attempt to express this experience.

I developed the script with the help of diary entries my grandmother wrote about her life in the Soviet Union and the United States. And when I traveled to Ukraine as a cinematographer to film the effects of the war, my family there gifted me with 8mm film that my great-grandmother shot, which captured the memories my grandmother had described in her writing.   

So while this film depicts the unsettling nature of dementia, it also depicts my grandmother’s childhood, adolescence, and adulthood all captured on 8mm film. Showcasing the beauty of a life, through what they left behind for us.