Category Archives: Personal Essays

2012 was a dreamless kind of year

Because I virtually never slept long enough to see a proper dream. Our film, “Katya, Vitya, Dima,” premiered in Istanbul and was shown at the Listapad Festival in Minsk. It’s now going to be included in an online festival organized by Novaya Gazeta, one of Russia’s most prominent independent newspapers. Alexey also worked as oneContinue reading “2012 was a dreamless kind of year”

Against being broken

I’m not good at this whole “love” thing. I’m not good at this whole “family” thing. Not because I’m somehow prejudiced against these concepts, or because I find them boring, but because I’m a fractured person. I’m an old-time painting. Look closely, and you can see the cracks in the paint. I’ve discovered that theContinue reading “Against being broken”

A letter to my high school classmates

On my 10 year high school reunion I flew East, not West. I said “marhaba” to the Emirates border guard at passport control – perhaps even as the party wound down. I worry about the things that Homeland Security will say to me when I do, indeed, have a chance to go home. I worryContinue reading “A letter to my high school classmates”

Nobody owes you love and explanations

I wrote this extremely personal post for Feministe this week – about what it’s like to deal with some of my husband’s more rabid fans. It’s not some huge problem most of the time – but there were a couple of episodes recently  that really got under my skin. In dealing with them, I realizedContinue reading “Nobody owes you love and explanations”