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The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga

– by Jessica Oreck

    1. Nonfiction

    2. Date Awarded: Winter 2011

    3. Directors(s): Jessica Oreck

    1. Producer(s): Jessica Oreck, Rachael Teel

    2. Location: Russia/Poland/Ukraine

    1. Film Status: In Post-Production

    2. URL: » The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga

About the Film:

The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga examines man’s interaction with the mythic woodlands of Eastern Europe, detailing the bloody history and complex psychologies that transformed the forest from a conceptually sinister space into a realm of precious security. Mushroom hunting provides a passageway into the history of the region and helps reveal the roles that woodlands play in the psychology and sociology of fear, imagination, and survival.

For generations of Slavic peoples, the dark, dense woods were construed as foreboding and menacing, ruled by the witch Baba Yaga. In the minds of many, Baba Yaga was believed to be a very real entity – to roam within her reach meant almost certain death. How then did the people of Eastern Europe – with their culturally ingrained fear of the forest and the witch within – come to rely so heavily on Baba Yaga’s wilderness during times of need?

Baba Yaga was vanquished by necessity when refugees of war and social unrest fled to her woods for shelter, nourishment, and sanctuary. Drawing on fairy tales, folklore, and personal recollections, The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga examines how the collective, social memory of Eastern Europe both shaped and shapes local relationships with the forest.

About the Filmmakers:

Jessica Oreck (Producer/Director/Writer) works as an animal keeper and docent at the American Museum of Natural History. When not at the museum, Oreck spends her time inventing new ways to create a sense of wonder in the world. Oreck recently finished her first feature documentary, Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo, which began its theatrical tour at Film Forum in May 2010 and will air on PBS’s Independent Lens series in May 2011. Jessica was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film” in 2009, and her short film Venus was selected for inclusion in the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.

Rachael Teel (Co-Producer) has more than ten years research and production experience with NPR, PBS/NATURE, National Geographic Television & Film, and Myriapod Productions. She received a Master of Environmental Science with a focus in environmental anthropology from Yale University in 2009.