Through tragedy and death to strength and love: A film about the incredible story of Vlada von Schatz was shown in Brooklyn.

Vlada and her family moved to the United States from the Soviet Union when she was 13. School, learning English, making new friends – just like any teenage immigrant. But then something very unusual and painful happened.

“One day, one of my friends didn’t come to school. I thought he was sick. But he didn’t come the next day, and the day after that. And then we found out he’d committed suicide. He was dressed in women’s clothing, with makeup, and hanged himself in the closet in his mother’s bedroom… What I went through when I was 13, when my friend stopped going to school, and how homophobic the Russian community was at that time, coming from the Soviet Union, where there was “no” homosexuality, “no” prostitution, “no” sex… All of this led me to understanding, to love, and to a desire, for some reason, to protect the LGBT community, because I just didn’t see the difference, I couldn’t distinguish between the child who was no longer with us and the child who was sitting in front of me. To me, they were the same. I never noticed the difference, I never knew that he was being tortured. I never knew that at home he didn’t "There was no support. I never knew he had no one to talk to. I didn't know any of this. If I had known, I would have been there. I would have talked to him because I wanted him to live," Vlada von Schatz says in the film. Mama Vlada, which is shown at the historic cinema from February 6 to 12 Kent Theatre in Brooklyn (1170 Coney Island Avenue).

She's well past 13 now, but she still struggles to hold back tears when she talks about this incident from her childhood. And yet, it was only the first blow to her defense of the LGBT community. The second was more global, more terrifying, and it was called... AIDS.

"It hit us like a brick. It was like COVID multiplied by a thousand," Vlada recalls, adding that people who hadn't even known they were sick started dying.

And Vlada continued to do her job – defending the oppressed.

This is how Vlada Lounge was born – one of the first gay bars in New York, which over time became a great success and was included in the list of the 60 best gay bars in the world.

Vlada von Schatz, who now runs the iconic restaurant Russian samovar, has contributed to numerous other projects supporting the LGBT community and beyond, but we won't spoil the plot of the documentary about her. Better yet, watch the film yourself. Mama Vlada, created by musician and producer Ellina Grapel. The film won several international awards and won the heart of a ForumDaily New York correspondent who visited show в Kent Theatre in brooklyn.

Mama Vlada "Vlada von Schatz" is Ellina Grapel's first documentary. She admits the idea for it came during a chance conversation with Vlada von Schatz after a concert at the Russian Samovar. "Vlada's story struck me; it felt like there was no one else in the room. And I decided people needed to hear this story. That's why I made this film."

The film is the result of a year and a half of team work, numerous interviews, and even late-night calls between Vlada and Ellina when one of them remembered or came up with something important and simply couldn't wait until the morning.

Vlada admits that she is used to being the center of attention, but the role of the film's heroine is a little different.

"I'm the center of attention every night because I'm having a good time at the Russian Samovar." But the film is a different kind of spotlight... Mama Vlada "For me, it's gratitude, I think. Ellina gave me the opportunity, gave me a platform to talk about my work, especially now, when times are a little… shaky, uncertain. We know what we've been through before—before gay rights and AIDS in the 1980s. We've learned a lot, but most of us still don't know how to fight. I just wanted the community to know there are people who support them," she noted.

For Vlada, this film is just the beginning of a long series of plans for the near future: "I have a lot of plans. I wrote a book; it'll be out in a few weeks. The book also touches on this part of my life—my children and the Russian Samovar, the very beginning, when we first came to this country... We'll have a lot of events for the 40th anniversary of the Russian Samovar, our 'mothership,' and much more to come—stay tuned!"

We would like to add that while you are following the news, don’t forget to watch Ellina Grapel’s film Mama VladaThis is a story that inspires and makes one proud.