Sitting in her room at Sunnyside Manor in St. Paul, local author Ella Drobot beams as she speaks about her granddaughter, Nicole Sorochan. Sitting nearby is Sorochan, who was visiting her grandmother late last week.
Although she now lives in Victoria, B.C., Sorochan grew up in Alberta and spent many summers in the St. Paul area visiting family. Sorochan is now on tour, as the co-director/producer of the film Amplify Her, which is scheduled to have a screening in Edmonton, today (Jan. 9) at the Metro Cinema. The project began in 2015 by gathering women who are music producers, illustrators, animators, photographers and videographers on a secluded island between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland of British Columbia for four days.
The project takes a look at women in the electronic music scene, exploring the new feminist movement, but also asks the question: what unique gift does the feminine expression have to offer our culture?
“What would it look like if women felt free to create?” asks Sorochan. Sorochan is involved in the technology industry, and part of the Amplify Her project was to incorporate trans media storytelling, which builds out the message so that it can reach other audiences through different ways. While Amplify Her is a film documentary, it’s also a graphic novel, and incorporates animation. It is not “a bunch of talking heads,” says Sorochan, with a laugh.
The Amplify Her project encouraged women to dig deep, and tell vulnerable stories. And for Sorochan, although she was involved in the project in a different way, she too had to dig deep, and face why she had a broken relationship with other women.
As she looks across the room, Sorochan says she finds inspiration in her grandmother. Drobot published her first book at the age of 80, with help from Sorochan. The fact that her grandmother was willing to write, and share her stories at that time of her life, is “really inspiring,” says Sorochan.
Drobot now has two books, Behind the Kitchen Stove and Even Cows Cry. The books are a collection of short stories that tell honest, real stories about her life as a child (coming from a family of 20) and later on as a rancher’s wife. She is now working on her third book - a collection of stories from when she and her late husband travelled the world. But, that book is proving to be a challenge.
“It’ll be very hard to do,” says Drobot, when speaking of the third book. “Remembering is the hardest thing to do,” she explains, adding, sometimes the memories come on too strong, and she often finds herself missing her husband.
As Drobot looks across the room, back at her granddaughter, a feeling of pride is clearly obvious. Drobot is humble and takes little credit for the work she’s done, but beams as she speaks about Sorochan. The feeling is mutual, and Sorochan often turns the conversation back to her grandmother.
For Christmas, Sorochan asked her grandmother to write a screenplay, and told her she would turn it into a film. And so, Drobot wrote a horror script. Although it may be a little surprising to some that Drobot decided to dabble in horror, she says it’s a genre that she loves.
Sorochan describes the screenplay as a country murder story with some pieces of real life, but a lot of “hyperfantasizing” will also have to take place. And as expected, Drobot gives herself little credit for the work, saying it will need her granddaughter's “sophistication.”
“She doesn’t give herself enough props,” says Sorochan, as she holds the hand-written screenplay.
But, for now it will be Sorochan in the spotlight, with the Edmonton screening of Amplify Her set for this week, and Drobot eager to make the drive to the city to see her granddaughter's work. Sorochan admits that she had mixed feelings when her mother saw the film in Calgary for the first time.
“Part of me wanted to hide, and part wanted to see her face,” says Sorochan. There are some deep topics, and lots of sexuality in the film, she explains. But, once again, she looks to her grandmother for inspiration, saying if her grandmother was able to write her first book in her 80s, then she too can move ahead bravely with her own work.
Sorochan feels that it's important for society to see the value in story telling, and the wisdom that is held within those stories.
“We need to place value on that kind of work,” says Sorochan, when speaking of Drobot's books. She adds that for so long, history has been written by men, and now women are starting to have a voice in writing history.
Both Sorochan and Drobot admit they have felt insecure in their lives. Drobot says she was never good at crafts, or other hobbies that other women appeared to excel at. But, she has found a talent in her writing.
Sorochan says she grew up in a very artistic home, but was never a good drawer and couldn't see herself as an artist. But, she was drawn to video cameras at an early age, and has realized that her talents lie in the vision side of things, and seeing how the pieces come together to create something bigger.
So, as Sorochan continues to move forward with other projects, she knows she will always have the support back home in Alberta, with a grandmother cheering her on.
“I'm so proud of her,” says Drobot.
