I AM ONLY WORKING HERE
documentary film, sound, 09'07'', 16:9, b&w, Russian with English subtitles
2019
Teacher, English translator, chemist, and seamstress. Women from Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Tajikistan with education in different professions ended up under the roof of one restaurant in St. Petersburg, russia as cleaners or dishwashers. Most restaurant and cafe workers in russia, who are hidden in the kitchen or in the back rooms, are citizens of the former USSR countries. The economic situation in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan or Ukraine forced women to leave to work in large cities of russia.
In I am only working here, you see a conversation with a woman from Kherson, Ukraine (she asked do not mentioned her name), who has been working in russia as a dishwasher for three years.
A woman from Uzbekistan, who has been living in russia for more than 10 years, refused to participate before the shooting because she is afraid that a public talk about the bad sides of the russian federation may affect her stay in russia, since she is a non-white person without russian citizenship.