Private Project

Portrait

Psychotherapist talks to the living portrait of her mother who interferes her to counsel. A consultation with a Patient early lost her mother encourages Psychotherapist to contact her family after a 20-year pause.

  • Natalia Vishnia
    Director
  • Natalia Vishnia
    Writer
  • Natalia Vishnia
    Producer
  • Yelena Kalinina
    Key Cast
    "Psychotherapist, Portrait"
  • Anton Paderin
    Key Cast
    "Supervisor"
  • Lada Ischenko
    Key Cast
    "Patient 1"
  • Anna Madera
    Key Cast
    "Patient 2"
  • Maria Kleshnina
    Key Cast
    "Patient 3"
  • Olga Bogdanova
    Key Cast
    "Patient 4"
  • Liza Ruziyeva
    Key Cast
    "Psychotherapist as a child"
  • Margarita Aleksandrova
    Key Cast
    "Psychotherapist as a teen"
  • Meria Parkkinen
    Key Cast
    "Young Psychotherapist"
  • Yuriy Zarubin
    Key Cast
    "Classmate"
  • Yekaterina Pisarevskaya
    Key Cast
    "Tosya"
  • Mikhail Dragunov
    Key Cast
    "Tosya's Boyfriend"
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Портрет
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Runtime:
    21 minutes 1 second
  • Completion Date:
    December 26, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    2,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Russian Federation
  • Country of Filming:
    Russian Federation
  • Language:
    Russian
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital, Blackmagic
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - TheOneFilm
  • International Film Festival KinoLesch
    Petrozavodsk
    Russian Federation
    October 27, 2024
    National premiere
    Winner/Best debut
  • Russian Film Festival
    Moscow
    Russian Federation
    September 22, 2024
    World premiere
    Audience choice award/Official selection
  • Ural Shorts
    Nizhny Tagil
    Russian Federation
    December 1, 2024
    Winner/Best screenplay, Best actress
  • COLIFFE
    Roma
    Italy
    December 5, 2024
    Official selection
  • Serbest International Film Festival
    Kishinev
    Moldova, Republic of
    September 5, 2024
    Semi-Finalist
  • Southeast Asia International Film Festival
    Pattaya
    Thailand
    December 28, 2024
    Official selection
  • Film Olympiad
    Athens
    Greece
    Official selection
Director Biography - Natalia Vishnia

1992-1996 - studing piano performing art at the Donetsk State Musical College, Ukraine.
1997-2002 - studing acting at the Russian State Institute of Performing Arts, Saint-Petersburg, Russia.
Natalia performed in Russian TV series and movies.
2006 - to the present - actress at KTM theatre in Saint-Petersburg, Russia.
She also plays on other venues in the city.
2022-2023 - studing filmmaking in the independent film school TheOneFilm, Russia.
"Portrait" is her debut as a screenwriter and director. This is a student work of the film school.
From 2024 she is a student of The Higher School of directors and screenwriters in Saint-Petersburg, Russia.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

It’s okay if you talk to a portrait. But if the portrait talks to you? I was inspired by the book "The Choice" by the Hungarian-American psychologist Edith Eva Eger. In our lives, we are faced with a choice every second. It is not always a great or a fateful choice. And when we do not make it, it is also a choice. Is escape the right choice? And if the escape was the only right decision to save your life earlier, is it right to keep running away the rest of your life? Maybe it’s time to stop and look back? Isn’t running away from yourself now?