Yugen

This film was made in direct response to my family lineage. On my dad’s side, his family immigrated from Bessarabia (now modern day Moldova) at the beginning of the 20th century. Prior to this project, this side of my family lineage was practically unknown to me. Half the time I couldn’t even remember whether my fathers lineage was from Moldova or Russia, but therein lies the idea of the film. Finding identity is a big part of the project, communication of that principle even more so.

Moldova as a geographic space has lived its entire history without independent representation. Because of its location, it has been the host for conflict between neighboring countries and empires all its life. The one highlighted is its most recent identity crisis. When the Soviet Union resumed control of Moldova after 1940, its culture and identity was suffocated by the iron curtain, Censorship and control over art, song, dance, anything that could represent Moldovan culture. It’s name, flag, national anthem, everything was changed to represent the new Soviet regime. Only after the cracks of the Soviet Union began in 1991 did Moldova become an independent nation.

Even with its independence, life was not easy even 30 years later. The country still struggles to find its legs, with its government struggling to create a system the people rally behind. Today, though it has made significant progress in reducing poverty and promoting growth, it is still amongst the poorest countries in Europe.