Baba’s House (half hour drama)
About the Film
Baba’s House
In 1977, nine year old Christina, still grieving the loss of her mother, is forced to spend the summer with her Ukrainian grandmother. Her only consolation is her new best friend, Ruby, who teaches her about the magic in raspberries and how to communicate with the dead.
Intent on seeing her mother again, Christina convinces Ruby to guide her into the spirit world. When things go terribly wrong, it is Baba who teaches Christina the fine balance between living and dying.
Background
My paternal grandparents arrived in Canada from Ukraine in 1922. Forty years later, I was born into a lower, middle class Canadian existence. In that short span, the Ukrainian culture had been lost to me. My Baba (grandmother) never learned to speak English and I knew no Ukrainian. She was as much a stranger to me as were her customs, foods, life and thoughts. I knew nothing of her past and none of her secrets. As a child I was ashamed that she didn’t act more Canadian.
In Baba’s House I wanted to explore the ideas of cultural and generational divides and to discover what had been lost and perhaps what could still be found.
Production Notes
We shot in Nova Scotia and scouted for months for a location house. We finally found it at my maternal grandmother’s house. She had died the previous year. The house was empty, there was no garden, and yet it felt like the only place we could possibly shoot. It was oddly satisfying to bring the dramatic world of my western baba to my east coast nan’s house.
The incomparable Joan Orenstein played Baba. Leah Fasset (Christina) and Katrina Nevin(Ruby) were newcomers. We shot in August, during a 40 degree heat wave. My FX team designed a hail machine for the storm sequence that chopped up ice and spewed it into the air. My art director, Alan MacLeod, created the world, gathering from the Ukrainian community pysanky, quilts, embroidery- all those touches that make it feel lived in. Outside the yard was plowed up; plants and vegetables brought in; an entire garden appeared magically overnight.
VIEW EXCERPT FROM BABA’S HOUSE- Seance
Production photos: Andrew Tench