Member Profile: Zina Costiner Written by Vanessa Vartabedian

Zina Costiner arrived in Somerville from Romania 7 years ago with her husband Sorin and her three daughters: Tara, Emanuela, and Lia. One day while standing in a local park area, she noticed some people taping something to do with a high school event, and decided to inquire about what it was. She said the next thing she remembers is it started raining and they had to finish the taping back at SCAT, so she followed along. Not only has she been a member ever since, but so have her three daughters and her husband. Tara, her 13 year old, started here by participating in SCAT’s Summer Youth Program which, at the time, was working on a documentary about how the budget cuts in Somerville schools would affect after school programs. “They interviewed the Mayor. She(Tara) was very excited about it.” Zina recalls. Her fourth daughter, Esmaranda, born in the States, is only three, but she’s not far behind, Zina cautions. I asked Zina why it took her so long to join SCAT, since she is now so involved. She said, “For a long time I passed by SCAT and thought it was a Portuguese oraganization or something and did not realize it was here.” Although there is such an organization in the building, hopefully the public confusion is lessened by the bright new signs and lovely awning which have only recently adorned the building.

Since then, Zina has participated in the production of several programs such as “A Day at the Brazilian Farmer’s Market”, “The Windows Art Project”, “JoJo’s Dreamcart” and “CafÈ SCAT”. Usually, her position is running the camera, but Zina said she would like to expand her expertise and branch out into directing. Having spent much of her time during the past year volunteering on other people’s productions, she hopes to find such willing and eager volunteers to assist with her own. What goes around comes around, right? That’s what SCAT is all about.

One of Zina’s first camera exercises was taping migratory geese at a state reservation. She loves nature. “I could live outside,” she tells me. But that’s not all. She loves children, and art, and music and… “everything!” she exclaims with an enthusiasm and laugh so un-self-conscious her spirit seems to embody the essence of what places like SCAT were built on. “I love it here,” she says. “Money is not the issue here, so that is very important. Somerville is not such a rich city, and here, people can get involved. SCAT is a great asset to the community.” Zina has some big plans in mind for her directorial debus. For one, she is researching and planning a program which will explore the ways in which our memory works and discuss methods of understanding to help increase the potential for better memory. She hopes her daughter Lia’s attendance at Harvard might connect her with some people knowledgeable in the field. She is also a teacher of math and wishes to employ these techniques in her own classroom.

In April, Zina will show a series of narrative films from Eastern Europe at SCAT. She hopes to create an understanding about the importance of films from that part of the world and explain the cultural significance they represent. She spent part of this past year documenting a priest in a Romanian village who has single-handedly and without funding, created an organization for orphaned children and placed them in the care of people from his parish. She hopes to return to Romania later this year to complete the projects and air it on SCAT soon thereafter.

In the near future, Zina’s goals are to learn other positions on a production crew and create her own show. In fact, Zina and her family are getting ready to set-up a studio at home. But we hope that won’t keep her away. “My husband wants to make millions with his movies,” she says with a laugh, “but I am not opposed to it. In fact he won an award for his very first video at SCAT about vision improvement. I was jealous of him, but I was very happy with what I did. I documented an artist who participated in The Windows Art Project. It was not easy to shoot it you know? Because I was with a stroller and a backpack and a camera,” she laughs at the memory. I call her a ‘warrior video-maker mom’ and think she deserves the award. When I asked her what kind of award her husband won, she said, “oh you know, something you hang on the wall.”

At the end of our very energizing conversation which bounced from the subject of memory to poverty to motherhood to art, Zina zipped out of her seat and back into the editing suite as she says in her most endearing Romanian accent, “how many thing I have to do.” And I think, how many things she has already done.

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