Karen Shakhnazarov spoke about the state of domestic cinema and the need to be sincere

— Times are difficult for everyone. How does Mosfilm survive? Will domestic film production collapse in the near future due to a lack of modern imported equipment?

— For now, we have a stable situation, although Russian industry, unfortunately, produces practically nothing, unlike the Soviet industry, which produced, in general, everything. Mosfilm has recently been modernized, our equipment is very modern. If you have a rewritable remote, it will last 10-20 years. The cameras are updated faster, but ours are also all modern. We continue to buy something. I don’t know how and where they bring us equipment from. There are problems, of course. For example, Dolby completely left our market. We have a Dolby Atmos studio. It may still work, since it is impossible to cancel the license. It was issued for a specific period. But in principle, Dolby Atmos has faded in Russia. Movie theaters can’t use it, and therefore neither can studios. His new painting “Khitrovka. I made The Sign of Four in Dolby Atmos, but released it in 6.1 format. That is, there is another, more modern option, but it turned out to be unnecessary.

— What are the prospects for young filmmakers? Many are confused, don’t know what to film about, or how to comprehend the new reality.

– This is such a delicate matter that no one will put it into your head what and how to shoot. Everything depends on you. Honestly, I don’t know how ideas come, but somehow they come. Personally, I’m constantly looking for a theme, something that can ignite. It is important for me that what I want to shoot is the most important thing in my life today. Sometimes it dawns on you that you can make a film adaptation of some work that has impressed you, and you understand how to implement it. It happens that some episode, some scene suddenly appears, and this is enough to create a film. I can’t say for certain how and when this happens. This is a very individual matter. It is difficult to suggest something to young people. They themselves must come to something. If they have an inner core, they will find something to say. And if not, well, then nothing is needed. Much depends on instinct, on human nature. Of course, experience matters, but when you’re just starting out, what kind of experience can you have? Does observation matter? Yes, although, in my opinion, the most recent. Some young directors watch everything and their own imagination fades. They become slaves to some clichés, influences, trends. After all, everything affects a person, and creativity can be greatly impaired. Of course, you should show interest in everything, watch and know, but you need a balance in this matter. The most important thing is to try to be sincere, to find the strength within yourself for this. It sounds easy, but it is difficult to achieve, because when you are sincere in cinema, you open up. And a person, as a rule, tries to close himself off to others. This is common. The more ability you have to open yourself, the more opportunity you have to do something worthwhile.

— Boris Khlebnikov said at the “In Short” festival that it is now important for filmmakers to observe. And they will be able to speak out about what is happening in the world after some time. Do you agree with this?

– Again, it all depends on the person. In principle, such a gigantic event, of which we are witnesses and participants, presupposes a certain distance. Still, some thought is needed. And it, as a rule, occurs when some kind of finitude exists and it is possible to analyze the event in all its complexity. When you are in the process itself, it is like riding a train. You haven’t reached the final station yet and don’t know what awaits you. Much depends on the level of talent and also on the chosen cinematic genre. For example, documentary cinema has a completely different nature, and today there is the most important material for it. Exactly today! Later, much will be restored in feature films. And today is the time for documentary films. Unfortunately, I don’t see it and I don’t know why this happens. I understand why there are no feature films. Many viewers, by the way, make complaints about this.

– What are they saying?

– Why aren’t you filming anything? As for me, I made the film “The White Tiger” ten years ago and that said it all. I think there was a lot said there that has a direct bearing on what is happening now. In this sense, I fulfilled my mission to some extent. To the best of your ability. And today’s documentary film must capture what is happening, react quickly, and embody the emotion of today. Documentarians don’t have to wait for things to happen. For now we see reports from military officers, and this is a little different, more journalism.

— You said earlier in an interview with MK that the century has been reset and everything needs to start from scratch. Is this an advantage or an added complication?

– This is both an advantage and a problem. On the one hand, everything is in your hands, and on the other, it is important to write the first phrase. You don’t know how to start a story. It’s always a big problem to start something, so I can’t say that this is only an advantage. Indeed, we are at the turning point of eras, when the past ends and something new begins. The era of the sixties is over. It is a thing of the past, it is no longer relevant. And the advantage today is that you are absolutely free in your assessments and fantasies. By and large, nothing dominates you. Although, naturally, it prevails, the past still remains. But the world we are entering is so new that you are much more disconnected from the clichés that have developed over the last 50-60 years, or maybe 100-200. In this sense, we can talk about an advantage.

— Is there a need for a large national festival today? The laurels of the defunct Kinotavr are also claimed by Spirit of Fire in Khanty-Mansiysk, the updated Koroche in Kaliningrad, and Window to Europe in Vyborg.

— Well, so far, it seems to me that none of the festivals can be considered national. Rather, an award like the Golden Eagle has potential. A festival is generally a difficult undertaking, and it is important to put it together correctly. Here the location matters. Khanty-Mansiysk is good, but far away, it’s exotic. I love Vyborg, but it’s too northern. Moscow is too big a city. I have been to many festivals and I can say that in large cities festivals are not successful. The choice of Sochi for Kinotavr was correct. I would try to restore the festival there or somewhere else in the south.

— What do you think about the state of auteur cinema, which is often shown at festivals?

— I don’t even understand what auteur cinema is. In the 70s and in Soviet cinema in general there was no talk about him. Critics invented it in the 90s. In Soviet times, party workers led, and then critics, and they are still trying to lead. After all, what is auteur cinema? This is where the author’s personality comes in. Right? And in our cinema it is implied that the guru is Tarkovsky. Young people have it in their heads that if you shoot like him, it should be slow and everything will be in a fog. But with Tarkovsky, the main thing is not this, but stunning images and style. He has his own style, and in this sense he shot like no one else. And Gaidai filmed like no one else. And this is the same auteur cinema. Both Volodya Menshov and Georgy Danelia, in my understanding, made auteur films, such that if you remove the credits, you will still understand that this master was filming. There is some mysticism in this. There are amazing directors, like Steven Spielberg, but they have no style. And Woody Allen has it. Style is something elusive, but you certainly feel it. In our country, auteur cinema has turned into a certain genre. And this is not a genre. It could be a comedy, drama, melodrama, whatever. The question is how much the author has his own style. Style is art. How it folds is a mystery. Gaidai made eccentric comedies, and no one filmed them the way he did them. The contradiction that has arisen in our country in connection with auteur cinema has a detrimental effect especially on young people. They begin to imitate, but they imitate external signs.

— What else would you like to film?

— I’m glad I made the painting “Khitrovka. The sign of four.” I wanted to make a light detective story. I don’t know what else I’ll want to film or whether I’ll want to. I worked in different genres, shot large, and therefore complex films. Physically this is not an easy task. I don’t know if I’ll dare to shoot again. Maybe I’ll do something intimate. There are no definite ideas yet.

– New ideas for you!

– Thank you. I’d like to thank you for this conversation. I consider Moskovsky Komsomolets the best newspaper in the Russian Federation. I am a regular reader myself. The newspaper is very original, it has its own style, which is important, since most newspapers do not have it. And “MK” has it.