Irina VanPatten’s Published Work
Let’s Do the SIFF 2019!
SIFF is coming to Seattle again this year! From May 16th to June 9th 2019 it will be my favorite time of year, again! I say “again” because that will be my seventh year going to the festival, as a spectator and a fan. I watched this festival grow and mature during all these years. It became more sophisticated, bolder, more provocative, and I’m not afraid to call it “revolutionary”. In front of my eyes, SIFF transformed into a leading trail blazer of the independent international movies in America. And I love being a part of it!
My Mama, the Food Artist
Growing up, I don’t remember a holiday, when mom would not decorate the table, even during the toughest times. Maybe that’s why I remember them with a sense of nostalgia, because she managed to make them fun, when the limited variety on the table was supposed to look sad. She used to make roses out of “available in the household material” as she used to call them, like beets and tomatoes. She would make piglets out of boiled eggs, and used the simple boiled carrots to make their ears and noses.
Abuelas Lupe & Conchita: Like Phoenix from Ashes
To understand what she has accomplished, you have to understand where my grandma was coming from. In 1940-50s the indigenous people were extremely discriminated in Mexico. People would call them by a derogatory name “Indians”. Children of lighter skin were not allowed to play with indigenous people, because they were thought to be lower class. The indigenous women were considered uglier because they were darker.
Grandma Eva Pearl: The Woman Older than the Century
“You see, the cool thing about grandma was, that she was two ages. She was born in earlier 1900s. At that time, my great-grandparents lived on a remote farm in Ontario, Canada. They would have to make a special trip on horse and carriage to register her, so they waited until the next child was born and got both birth certificates at the same time. Therefore, her birth date is one year off. “
How to Train a Tiger
“This is not a job for nice, quiet, polite girls, and to be perfectly honest, your mama’s ears will melt like wax candles, if they’d hear you on the phone. We are dealing with truck drivers here, who, for the lack of a better word, are assholes most of the time.”
The Power to Walk Away
My husband “never touched me with a finger”, as my mom would say. He was an amazing father, when he was sober. He played hide and seek with our daughter and son. He would buy them candy on money left from vodka. But only one shot of the “fire water” and he was lost to demons. It seemed a simple choice to walk away, but it wasn’t.
I Love you, Russian Style
“Was it I love you, love you or just good bye?” I asked John while setting the table with plates and silverware. “I can’t ever tell with you all.”
“What do you mean?” John asked, stopping halfway to the table with the napkins in his hands.
“You see, back in the USSR, when somebody said “I love you”, that was a life-changing event. You, on the other hand, said I love you three times today but in three different ways.”
Young Lioness, Love
When you are young, you’re like a lioness. Jump into the deep waters, walk into the darkness, move across the world and start over? Anything is possible! She set her bar high. Though, she never thought, she’d end up here, in America. Why would she? It was too far, too unreachable, too big to dream of.
Nana and Her Missing Phone
Nana’s never ending missing phone saga regularly sends my husband and I into some search expeditions around the house, worthy of Sherlock Holmes stories. Deductive methods, creative thinking, intuition, and sometimes dumb luck are coming in handy while looking for her missing phone.
Farewell to Moms
These young kids know the definitions of words that no kid at their age should know: ICE, Asylum petition, Deportation proceedings, Court hearing, Detention. Their birthdays and quinceañeras are postponed, most likely, indefinitely.
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