1) Can you talk briefly about your background, and how you first got interested in filmmaking?

In 2014 I was traveling in Munich and decided to make my first video about vacation, I was so excited about the  process of shooting and cutting, so I could not stop doing it. After that I decided to make video portraits of my friends and later I started my course of directing music video. Step by step I started to make commercials and music videos. 

2) What’s the backstory here - what was the initial idea and how did it evolve from there?

The concept was born from my monodrama, based on my personal story, which I wrote specially for the stage and played by myself as an actress. Later, I decided to transform this monodrama to a short film with my friend Victoria Privalova inspired by Sedmikrásky and Eralash (Soviet and Russian children’s humorous newsreel).

3) What was the biggest challenge in making this film? And generally what part of the creative process do you enjoy the most, and the least? 

We shot on 16mm film and it was very exciting for me, because we had only one film reel (10 minutes). So we could afford to make  only one or two takes for a scene. We had rehearsals, discussed the play and after would record. Working with film is the most difficult and at the same time amazing part of creating a story. 

The biggest difficulty was creating the original collages which connect with the mood of the character. We needed to create 7 collages. Each collage included 13 frames for a total amount – 91 frames. The collage was hand made by me and my friend, using my personal diaries to construct it.

4) What’s a film you’ve seen recently, new or old, that you really loved and why?

Call me by your name. Because the director could tell the story of first love very tender and not vulgar. Every piece of his film is very emotional: colors, music, dialogs, but at the same time very organic to the story.  The play of Timothée Chalamet is so honest and natural, very talented. 

5) What’s next for you?

Next, Lisa Astakhova and I are going to co-director a short film in May in Russia, Moscow with the working title of ‘Matriarchy’:

Moscow. 2030. The post-Harvey world has established a matriarchy. Almost all countries are headed by women. All companies and corporations are owned by women. Men are responsible for ensuring a woman’s life and meeting her basic needs.

The story is told in a very satiric way and despite such a resonant synopsis, this film shows how women love and need men.

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