Natalya Murakhver is a documentary filmmaker, writer, and co-founder of Restore Childhood, a nonprofit focused on children's education, health, and parental rights advocacy. She directs and produces documentary films through Restore Childhood and as a fellow at Palladium Pictures. She also writes for the New York Post and her Substack.
Born in the Soviet Union and raised in America from age six, Natalya came to filmmaking the way many of the best stories begin, from lived urgency. When New York City schools closed during the pandemic, she co-founded #KeepNYCSchoolsOpen and filed a lawsuit against Mayor de Blasio to reopen them. That fight became 15 DAYS: The Real Story of America's Pandemic School Closures — a forensic documentary investigation into how and why America's children were locked out of their schools, and what it cost them.
Natalya was inspired to make the film in the tradition of Steven Spielberg's Shoah project, with the conviction that bearing witness to institutional failure is a moral obligation, not just a creative one.
Her current mission is to getting 15 DAYS seen by every parent in America, and inoculating families with the truth so they can push back against indoctrination and reclaim their children's futures.
On this episode of The One Way Ticket Show, we begin our conversation with Natalya's one way ticket back to 1980s Brooklyn, the world she was raised in after emigrating with her parents from Odessa.
From there, Natalya dives into the documentary. She reveals the leaked March 2020 Zoom call where Teachers' Union President Randi Weingarten met with activist groups and Jane Fonda and declared how the pandemic will "fundamentally change our lives," (at a moment when we were told we needed two weeks to stop the spread). Natalya also highlights the moment Fonda was separately caught on camera saying COVID was "G-d's gift to the left."
Further, Natalya breaks down the power of the teachers unions, the $189.5 billion they negotiated to reopen schools, why her lawsuit against Bill de Blasio mattered and more.
Natalya's latest film is: "Uncancellable", the story of former New York City Public Defender and mother of four, Maud Maron's fight to unseat Alvin Bragg in 2025 for the position of Manhattan District Attorney.
LINKS Restore Childhood / Natalya Murakhver
• Substack: https://restorechildhood.substack.com
• X: https://x.com/Rstorechildhood
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/restorechildhood/
• Facebook (Restore Childhood): https://www.facebook.com/groups/restorechildhood
• Facebook (Natalya Murakhver): https://www.facebook.com/NatalyaMurakhver
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/restorechildhood
15 DAYS Film
• Website: https://www.15daysfilm.com/
• Linktree: https://linktr.ee/15DAYS
Film Trailer
• YouTube Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/restorechildhood (trailer is pinned)
Websites
• https://restorechildhood.com
• https://15daysfilm.com
Streaming — Where to Watch
• Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0GMK76XVL/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r
• Apple TV: https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/15-days-the-real-story-of-americas-pandemic-school-closures/umc.cmc.1s4x1ypd6ku4p1rk9c200pw6p
• Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/15_DAYS?id=ukW8z3RV5Vw.P
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vefG1koZ4P4
UNCANCELLABLE
