Family legacy documentary movies
I’m offering a unique way of honoring the history of your family — a custom-made personal documentary film that tells the biographies of your ancestors. As someone who filmed the story of my own family, I truly believe that the outcome of such work is irreplaceable, its value is hard to overestimate. That’s an endeavor that’s worth taking, and better sooner than later.
Family history is the knowledge that builds bridges and creates understanding between generations. Many people want and can ask their parents to tell about their life and record the stories. But how many will actually do this before the memories fade away?
Russia, St. Petersburg, 1990. My grandmother and I
Why filming legacy documentaries
My grandmother was the last keeper of all our family stories. When I was a kid, we used to gather around an ancient padded family album and she would talk for hours about everyone portrayed in the photographs. Then she passed away. I hovered a few times with my own kids over the same family album, and guess what? I couldn’t remember a thing. It was embarrassing. I felt that something extremely important just vanished and there’s no way to bring it back.
By that time I was already a professional documentary photographer and filmmaker who interviewed families from all corners of the world on behalf of humanitarian organizations. I was struck by the realization that I’ve recorded almost 600 family stories, which was great, except for my own family story was missing. This needed to be fixed.
My last hope was to address my aunt and ask her to share with me whatever she knew about my ancestors. In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, we never had time for this kind of conversation. As it turned out, she had a lot to say.
This time I knew what to do: I grabbed my filming equipment and recorded a 2-hours interview with my aunt. Afterward, I cinematically edited it, incorporated archival photos of people and places and layered music played on the piano by my mom.
The result was astounding: the movie became one of the most valuable documents cherished by everyone in the family. I felt huge relief and confidence that all the amazing stories of the past are now safely stored for the future.
Now you have access to my documentary filmmaker’s expertise. If you share my passion for preserving your family stories, please get in touch.
How it works
You may want a legacy documentary created to mark a special occasion or without any event in mind, simply because you feel the need for obtaining a valuable record.
Here’s what the process will look like:
Upon your initial inquiry, we will arrange a free Skype call or in-person consultation to determine the scope of the film. Based on this, I’ll provide a cost estimate. The pricing range for your reference is listed on this page.
You’ll take your time to prepare the most meaningful archival materials: photos, pieces of video footage, audio records. You may come up with a list of objects or places you’d like filmed specifically for the film.
I’ll prepare for the interview and review the questions with you.
I’ll come to your place to conduct the interview. One interview typically lasts 1.5-2 hours. I can conduct interview in English, Russian, or Hebrew.
We will work on selecting archival materials.
Within around 4-5 weeks after obtaining all the materials I will prepare for you the required versions of the documentary which may include:
The full-length version that contains only a slight technical touch-up, otherwise, it’s an uncut interview with the inclusion of archival materials and all additional footage. This version becomes an important family document which you will store securely along with other precious heirlooms.
Cinematically edited 15-30 min version. This one works best for screening at family gatherings and sharing with family members.
Your film will be uploaded for private access and sharing on a web cloud service and you will receive a neat custom-made flash-drive ensuring long-term secure storage.
No public access will be given to the movie unless you decide otherwise.
Ukraine, Kharkov, 2015. After an interview