Life of Ivanna

A young Nenets mother of five navigates life and survival, from the Arctic tundra to the city. Ivanna lives a traditional nomadic life on the tundra, herding reindeer and moving her house on sleds with her children while enduring the extreme cold of the land. Over four years, we follow Ivanna as she strives to support her children and resolves to build a better life for them, an alternative to the harsh existence marked by poverty and dislocation she herself has experienced. Her reindeer herd depleted, Ivanna leaves the tundra, returning the city where the husband she supports has sunk into alcoholism and violence, but where the opportunity to secure housing, a job and schooling for her children is too strong to resist. As she transitions to this new life, Ivanna’s determination to serve her family’s needs means that her dreams of life on the tundra may be on hold for now, but her connection to the land of her ancestors will never fade.