Original title: Family Portrait in Black and White
Copyright: Family Portrait Productions Inc., 2012
Format: documentary, full-length, stereo
Carrier: DVD
Color: color
Length: 85 min.
Original language: Russian, Sourzhyk, and Ukrainian
English subtitles: yes

Film crew
Director, editor, writer, cinematographer: Julia Ivanova
Camera operator: Stanislav Shakhov
Music: Boris Sichon
Producer: Boris Ivanov
Vocals: Rivka Sichon
Featuring: Olha Nenia and her 17 foster children

Synopsis: Julia Ivanova returns to the country of her childhood to film this challenging documentary about the family Olha Nenia has built piecemeal by taking in unwanted orphans, one after another. These kids in particular end up in Ukrainian orphanages because they are biracial, most often the children of white, Ukrainian mothers and African fathers. Ivanova touches on the question of race—a non-issue in most Ukrainian villages—both locally and in the country at large. Though skinheads might make up a vocal minority in some of Ukraine's larger cities, the children seem to fit in at school and have friends, rivals, and love interests like all teens. The color of their skin, however, is not the root of their largest problems. Though she is motivated by her love for her family, Olha's domineering personality and iron fist leave her adolescent children little room to explore or make their own decisions and mistakes. She is shown overriding their desires in order to exert her will and demanding they jump at her every whim. One of her unequivocal "rules" is no adoptions until the children turn 18, despite the fact that there are western European families who love these kids and want to take them in. It is hard to blame her selfishness fully, though; she has given these children an invaluable gift and strives to make a haven for them in their home of Ukraine. They are all healthy, well fed, and clothed. They have a house, a family, love, and are appreciated for being their unique selves. Ultimately, as Ivanova shows, some of the greatest obstacles are presented by the state and the irrationalities of post-Soviet bureaucracy.

Ivanova should be criticized for not setting the story more clearly in its greater Ukrainian cultural context and, inexcusably, for overlooking the stories of the female children in favor of the boys'.