It Was Everyone’s Dream (2024)

It Was Everyone’s Dream tells the stories of Luba, Serhiy, Haliya and Vitaliy, four friends who immigrated to Chicago’s Ukrainian Village in the 90’s. Through intimate conversations and a shared dinner, they remember the late Soviet Union and post-independence Ukraine, and describe their experiences of immigration.

The three filmmakers are each in some way a part of the larger story of migration: Lina, Luba and Serhiy’s daughter; Lena, who moved from Ukraine as a child; and Yuliia, a Ukrainian citizen studying in the States. Using footage of neighborhood streets, a tailor shop, a hair salon, and a grocery store, as well as archival materials and interviews with a historian, the film also explores the neighborhood and its role in the lives of the people who found work, friendship, and community there.