Film about Belarusian orphan shot in Italy: “Others shouldn’t be forgotten in the name of Maria”

Italian TV channel Sky Vivo has announced that a serial based on the real story of Belarusian orphan Vika Maroz is to be released soon. The 6-episode serial “In the name of Maria” (Vika Maroz is still called Maria in Italy) is based on the story of relations between Vika Maroz and Giusto-Bornacin family.

Despite of Belarusian roots of Vika Maroz, the serial was shot in Ukraine, and not in Belarus. The director of the film explains his decision to produce the film in Ukraine: “We would like to shoot in Belarus. However Ukraine is a more open country for us. EU citizens can get there without a visa”.

The plot of the film is the following. A priest from Italy arrives to the country to find out what had happened to the girl after her forcible return from Italy to her home country.

The priest couldn’t find Maria, but he was shocked by lives of Chernobyl children who had been sent to Italy for rest. The priest makes a conclusion: “One shouldn’t forget about other children in the name of Maria”.

In an interview one of the leads of the film, Milan film star Natasha Stefanenko (who plays the part of a representative of the Ukrainian government in the film), has stated that the story of Vika Maroz has impressed her greatly, Telegraf informs with the reference to Radio Svaboda.

“Like many other Italians, once I was greatly impressed by that story, that is why I treated the work on the film with great respect,” the actress has underlined.