Kirill Mikhanovsky left the Soviet Union to pursue his dream of becoming a filmmaker. He settled in Milwaukee, supporting himself through odd jobs—among them driving a minivan for people with disabilities. That dual life became the backbone of Give Me Liberty (2019). The film's protagonist is a young Russian-American driver who, during a shift transporting several people with mobility challenges across a nearly gridlocked city, finds himself crammed into his van with a boisterous group of elderly Russian immigrants desperately needing a ride.
The result is explosive and hilarious chaos in the minivan's narrow confines: a constant shuffle of boarding and exiting, punctuated by loud arguments bouncing between English and Russian. The characters' vitality dissolves every barrier—linguistic and physical alike. Give Me Liberty is a messy, vital film. It shows ordinary people who are, in their own way, extraordinary. It doesn't romanticize reality; it presents it as it is—no melodrama, no sentimentality, funny and neurotic in equal measure. Mikhanovsky mines real experience to perfect effect: the Milwaukee Eisenhower Center, dedicated to people with disabilities, becomes peacefully overtaken by spirited, slightly disoriented but thoroughly delighted Russians. Beyond lead actor Chris Galust, the film marks the screen debut of costar Lauren "Lolo" Spencer, a Black actress with a disability. She moves through the frame with ease, capturing the frustration of depending on others for long-distance travel while radiating the grace, beauty, emotion, and romantic longing any young woman her age might feel.
The protagonist's confidant—a stock comic-relief character—dispenses wisdom from his bed, confined by a physical condition. Yet no viewer fixates on his appearance any more than the young driver does, hanging on his every word. The film received four Oscar nominations, including Best Supporting Actress, and won the John Cassavetes Award at the 2020 Independent Spirit Awards—a prize for films made on budgets under five hundred thousand dollars. Before that, Give Me Liberty had earned the Ruderman Foundation's distinguished Seal of Authentic Representation for its careful, honest portrayal of people with disabilities.