Daniel Edelstyn launched this film project after reading the spirited diary of his late grandmother, Maroussia Zorokovich, whose wealthy Jewish family split from Ukraine as the Bolsheviks were taking control. Edelstyn flies to Ukraine and discovers that the Zorokovich family had owned a vodka distillery, which, post-Communism, is still functioning, but barely. So Edelstyn decides not only to make a family-history documentary but also to start a liquor import business, bringing the Ukrainian vodka to his native England. That's a bit much for one film, and it's no help that the filmmaker-narrator is a lightweight and befuddled chap. Still, there are amusing moments, and in re-creating Maroussia's Russian saga, some clever, Guy Maddin–like montages of acted-out footage in combo with steals from silent Eisenstein.
