Dmitry Davydov and Stepan Burnashev: “It is important to develop the concept of multiculturalism in Russia”

The phrase “Yakut film miracle” has long been firmly entrenched in the cultural agenda of Russia. Films by local directors are ahead of Hollywood and national hits at the local box office. At the end of 2022, six Yakut films were included in the top 10 highest-grossing films in Yakut cinemas, according to data from the Bulletin of the HSE Film Institute. Two of them topped the top 3 rankings. The comedy “Zina and Lekha: Operation Tail and Udder” (gross – 14.9 million rubles) and the sports drama “Julur: Mas-Wrestling” (12.8 million rubles) left behind the Hollywood release “Spider-Man: No” way home” (10.6 million rubles).

Yakut directors have a collection of Grand Prix awards from major Russian festivals and prizes from international shows. The lion’s share of awards was won by only two directors – Dmitry Davydov and Stepan Burnashev. Among other things, Davydov won the Kinotavr-2020 Grand Prix for the film “Scarecrow.” And Burnashev’s “Black Snow” won the “Windows to Europe” Grand Prix in 2020. In addition, the thriller “Aita” by Burnashev (a prize for directing at the Winter 2022 festival) collected 26.4 million rubles. and became the highest-grossing Yakut film in history.

The film “Aita” was released nationwide in March 2023, and six months later it was banned. In September, she disappeared from video services after Roskomnadzor identified signs of nationalism in her. Then the Ministry of Culture revoked the rental certificate. Director Burnashev insists that the message of his film is “absolutely the opposite” of what is attributed to it: it is a movie “about the short-sightedness of separation.”

In an interview with Vedomosti, the most successful Yakut directors talk about their second joint film – “ET” (an original project of the Wink video service), which is currently in theaters and will be released on the platform on November 9. They also share their versions of the reasons for the rise of Yakut cinema and discuss how creativity could help preserve the identity of the peoples of Russia, on the one hand, and debunk myths, on the other.