How to Re-Establish a Vodka Empire
How to Re-Establish a Vodka Empire began with a story, a manuscript found in an attic that told the tale of Russian revolution and exile through Europe to Northern Ireland from the point of view of a young and romantic girl – director Dan Edelstyn’s Grandmother, Maroussia Zorokovich. Her words and vision prompted a documentary journey into Ukraine’s present and history culminating in the discovery of a Spirits Factory expropriated from these ancestors in 1917. Thus began a whirlwind adventure into vodka and the desire to create a positive intervention in history, creating and marketing a new brand of Vodka called Zorokovich 1917 and linking the dwindling village of its origins to a new European market.
This reawakening of the family spirit of entrepreneurship is charted in the film and inter-cut with dramatic reconstructions of scenes from the original manuscript. The film has been acquired by More 4 and will have a theatrical release and be broadcast in 2010. The film is the latest project by Optimistic Productions, a dynamic partnership between Dan Edelstyn and artist Hilary Powell. Alongside the film Optimistic Productions also host ‘Optimistic Immigrants’ events bringing together other stories of migration in film, music and performance. Be sure to take a look at APEngine’s interview with Hilary, where she talks about the film and discusses her ongoing fascination with urban space, cultural memory and the 2012 Olympics.
Credits
A film by Dan Edelstyn and Hilary Powell
