Thanks to Glasnost in June of 1991 in a visit
to Russia we finally felt free to contact our Russian relatives.
My father and his family had left in 1920 leaving behind on
his mother’s
side many aunts and uncles. All those years communication was
limited and unwise, particularly as Stalin took control of the country.
Sonia (Sofia Dymshitz-Tolstaya) was my grandmother’s sister
and, when I met her granddaughter, I asked her what she knew about
her grandmother’s life. In response she amazed me by giving me
Sonia’s Memoirs, lists that Sonia had compiled of her paintings
and many photographs of her art. I was deeply moved. I felt I had to
tell Sonia’s story.
At first I was advised that there was not much left
of her paintings, and her significance as a member of the Russian Avant-Garde
was minimal. But, thanks to the help of relatives and scholars in both
St. Petersburg and Moscow, I was able to find over seventy-five images
of her art and many documents and photographs that portrayed a rich
involvement with her times.
I worked with local cameramen, Mikhail Levitan
in St. Petersburg and Yuri Gavrushin in Moscow, retracing places
where Sonia had lived and worked. And I sought out and interviewed
relatives and friends who had known her.
My research and filming
took me to another time and place, with many surprises and amazing
discoveries. When I look back on it, I realize it was the most
ambitious, daring project I had ever undertaken, but personally the
most rewarding.
Photo:
Filming in St. Petersburg
© 2010 Lucy Kostelanetz Productions, LLC