Artists and Orphans: A True Drama (known in Russian as Артисты и сироты: Настоящая драма) is a 2001 American documentary film documenting a group of American artists traveling to the Republic of Georgia for an art festival, and their subsequent effort to provide humanitarian aid to a group of local orphans. Directed and written by Lianne Klapper McNally,[2] upon its debut in 2001, the Daily Nexus described it as "heart-wrenching and eventually heart-warming,"[3] as well as "short, gritty and brilliantly scored."[3] The film won Audience Choice Award for Best Documentary at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival,[4] and it was nominated for Best Documentary Short Subject at the 74th Academy Awards.[5]Artists and Orphans had won multiple film festival awards by 2002,[6] debuting on television several months later through WE tv.[7]
Synopsis
Artists and Orphans, a short documentary details a group of American artists traveling to the Republic of Georgia[8] after an invitation to take part in an international arts festival.[9] Upon discovering that the country is undergoing a humanitarian crisis,[8] the troupe is introduced to a group of orphans living in Tbilisi, Georgia, who were surviving extreme deprivation[2] in a mental hospital[8] bombed out in the Georgian civil war. With winter approaching, the film documents the artists' attempt to gather funds and supplies for the makeshift orphanage, which lacked heating, food, electricity, and water. They then help prepare the orphanage for winter.[2]
Production
Not By Chance Productions, Inc. served as the production company behind the film.[9][2] Post-production facilities were provided in major part by Teatown Communications Group in New York,[10] while Ellen Goldwasser and Jonathan "Yoni" Kohen edited the film.[9][2]
However, Gans' Fourth Way-inspired esotericinitiatory order (known colloquially among its members as "The Work" or "School" before incorporating as the Odyssey Study Group at the turn of the century)[22] has since been deemed a "cult" by former member Spencer Schneider, who corroborated the previous accusations in Manhattan Cult Story, his 2022 memoir. Rick Ross, a New Jersey–based cult expert and lecturer who helped deprogram Branch Davidians in the mid-'90s, said the group is a cult and excludes members of the LGBT community. "They must renounce their sexual preference and work toward becoming heterosexual," said Ross, who said he spent hours talking with former members. On April 22, 2002, the film screened on WE tv as part of an evening of programming meant to raise awareness for children.[7] It was screened in the Czech Republic on April 23, 2002, at the Olomouc Animation Film Festival,[10] and was also included in documentaries for sale at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam.[8] At the Crested Butte Reel Fest in central Colorado, the film won the Illumination Award for the film,[6] and Artists and Orphans also tied for second place for audience choice award.[6]
Critical reception
Andy Sywak of the Daily Nexus gave the film a positive review upon its March 2001 debut, describing it as "heart-wrenching and eventually heart-warming."[3] Though Sywak argued the film "appears pretentious" at times by attempting to draw connections between art and humanitarian relief, he further opined that the film was "essentially a documentary about a philanthropy mission," and "the fact that the caregivers are artists ultimately has little to do with the story."
