Three lives of Hero of Russia Daudi: “After being seriously wounded, I went through a series of hospitals”

Beyond the river

Ilyas came to Afghanistan, where the war had been going on since 1979, of his own free will.

A first-year student at the Moscow Institute of Oil and Gas wrote to the district military commissar with a request to be sent to Afghanistan. The wish was fulfilled.

“Beyond the River” participated in military, reconnaissance and search operations, and ambushes. He became a senior sergeant and deputy platoon commander. On August 26, 1986, during an operation on the Afghan-Iranian border in Herat, he was seriously wounded in battle.

After treatment in hospitals in Shindand, Kabul and Tashkent, he recovered at the institute. He graduated with honors. And more than twenty years later – in December 2009, for the courage and heroism shown in the performance of military duty in the Republic of Afghanistan, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.

In 2012, Ilyas graduated from the National Security Faculty of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Civil Service. Also with honors. The topic of the thesis is “National interests of the Russian Federation in the Central Asian region and Afghanistan…”

In 2020, he wrote a military-historical novel-trilogy “In the Kunduz Circle.” This is the story about the fate of six of our reconnaissance soldiers who fought in Afghanistan. Chapters of the novel were published in Russian and foreign literary magazines.

In 2022, another zigzag of fate – I entered VGIK, a course in directing and producing film and television. He studies in the workshop of F. Popov and S. Titinkov. He made his debut with the short feature films “Self-Portrait” (2022) and “Blind” (2023). The films received recognition at international film festivals in Europe and Asia.

– Ilyas, how did the Afghan veteran come to literature and cinema?

– Fate is truly changeable. During the war, I took every opportunity to communicate with the “autochthonians” – the local population. Some of them sympathized with the official Kabul authorities, some rejected them, some were open enemies.

The subject of discussion was different: the ancient and modern history of the country, a particular region, the peoples and branches of Islam in Afghanistan, the social structure of Afghan society, unity, discord and enmity of local clans for leadership, the personalities of the main spiritual figures, field commanders of the armed opposition.

They talked about the claims of the common people to the Kabul authorities. Actively studied local languages ​​and dialects. After returning from Afghanistan, I carried with me for a long time many interesting and entertaining things that I witnessed.

And after being seriously wounded, having gone through a series of hospitals and returning to the student path, I realized that Afghanistan was stuck in my mind forever. I continued to be interested in the latest events in this country, eagerly listened to reports on radio and television (there was no Internet yet), and read a lot of historical literature about this country.

But I understood that this storehouse of my knowledge and factual observations could someday go into another world with me. And many people interested and interested in the topic will never know what I knew. This thought made me pick up a pen and put everything I had experienced and planned on paper.

“The Homespun Truth”

“I think that what I personally lived through was embodied in my work,” says Ilyas. – Authenticity, as they say, “homegrown truth,” allows you to be confident in your narrative and organically introduce the main elements of a work of art into the narrative. This is a well-known fact: the author’s personal participation in events, deep knowledge of historical processes and events on which artistic history is based, inspire the trust of the reader and viewer. This, in my opinion, is the most important thing in the author’s work.

– How did you come up with the idea of ​​speaking “in the language of cinema”?

– And again, chance decided everything. Once a group of famous film figures came to me: a producer, an investor, a scriptwriter, a director. They invited me to become the author of the idea and make a film based on my biography. I, in turn, offered this creative group an alternative version of the film adaptation. The heroes of the film were supposed to be six Soviet reconnaissance soldiers of the Afghan war – with their stories of destinies in Afghanistan itself and after service, right up to our time.

I outlined my vision of history. But I had one condition: I approve the script for the future film personally. The synopsis (a brief summary of the plot) presented by my colleagues convinced me of the need to create a specific literary work for a future film adaptation. And any deviation from the very motive of the work would be impossible. I was not attracted by the prospect of seeing an unfamiliar story on the screen, and with my own name in the credits (smiles).

So I made the difficult decision to take on the novel myself. I studied the laws of literary creativity, creating large forms, built a structure, and chose a narrative style. All this took a lot of work, time and effort. The price of the issue was my fairly successful business and time stolen from my family… Whether it was raining or snowing outside, whether it was weekdays or weekends, holidays or a year-long vacation – I was obsessed with one idea: write, write, write. As they say, acquire the Holy Spirit! (smiles).

And, glory to the creator, through righteous labors the military-historical novel “In the Kunduz Circle” was completed. By the way, it was highly praised by experts and was published as separate stories and chapters in Russian and foreign literary magazines.

Then came the stage of writing a script “based on” and showing it to the production division for film adaptation.

Spirituality and eternal values

– How did the family react to the sharp turn in fate?

– The family was presented with a fait accompli (smiles). Friends and colleagues warmly supported me. They were confident that I would succeed. But the main thing is that I decided to write a book for myself, and I did it the way I wanted. In evaluating my work, I am my own strictest judge.

– What prompted you to enter VGIK, write the script for the film “Blind” and film it?

— At a certain stage of working on the novel, I realized that it was best to implement the project “In the Kunduz Circle” in a professional environment. And I entered VGIK for the highest course in directing and producing in the workshop of F.M. Popov and S.A. Titinkov. I felt great excitement then. VGIK is, after all, the sacred temple of Russian cinema. Moreover, which is typical, I entered there at an adult age, at 55, and also in the Year of the Teacher and Mentor. I considered this to be God’s providence – an opportunity to turn the viewer’s gaze to the illustrious university, showing the courage and heroism shown by students, masters, scientists, teachers of all generations in defending their Fatherland.

So, as part of the curriculum, he began making films: short feature films “Self-Portrait” (2022) and “Blind” (2023) appeared.

-What are they talking about?

– “Self-Portrait” is a short film without words – about my war, my life, … my memory. The film “Blind” is a story about a VGIK student, a group of VGIK students, mostly within the walls of the university. The main character of the film “Blind” is a student of the directing department of VGIK Georgy Abaev. The guy has dreamed of becoming a famous film figure since childhood. But due to circumstances, from the first year of VGIK he was drafted into the army. George is sent to Syria to fight local terrorists. In one of the battles, Georgy is seriously wounded and completely loses his sight.

Returning to civilian life becomes difficult and depressing for him. His colleagues and teachers help him integrate into civilian life, transferring him from the directing department to the screenwriting department. In addition, the enormous willpower and strength of character of the main character favor the fulfillment of his cherished dream: Georgy wins the Venice International Film Festival in the category “Best Screenwriter”. The script itself was dedicated to the rescue by Russian soldiers of the village of the Sheikh Isa tribe in Syria from terrorists.

– How did you select the actors? What was the filming process like?

– I deliberately cast first-year actors in the film, all of them from the same course, the same workshop. For six months, on weekdays and weekends, I went to their acting classes. I watched everyone’s play and chose their types. I looked to see if the characters matched each other in terms of the plot. The boy actors had a heavy work load with their studies. And the teachers did not welcome them missing classes. We had to film outside of school hours – at night, on weekends, on holidays. The directors of photography were also first-year students.

But everyone worked with enthusiasm, with complete dedication, and for free.

I was very pleased with the results.

Help “MK”. The film “Blind” was awarded the highest prizes and awards at several International Film Festivals. In early September, he won the “Best Short Film” category at the AFA 2023 international film festival in Anatolia, Turkey. A little later, he won the “Special Jury Prize” at the international film festival “NITIIN” in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), and a couple of days later he took the prize “Best Director (Student)” at the 11th International Film Festival “ICFF” 2023 in Mumbai (India).

In October, he was recognized as “Best Screenplay” at the Korea ISFF Short Film Festival 2023 in Seoul (South Korea). He also received nominations for “Best Short Film” and “Best Director of a Short Film” at the SFA Film Festival 2023 in Stockholm (Sweden). Noted with the nomination “Honorable Mention” at the East European International Film Festival “EEFF” 2023 in Bucharest (Romania).

– What, in your opinion, should be the goal setting of domestic patriotic cinema?

– The need for the production of new patriotic cinema has been proven by recent events of our days.

– But now our patriotic films in Western countries are facing all sorts of obstacles…

– Nevertheless, art still opens the doors of international film festivals and cinemas abroad: catharsis and empathy cannot be canceled!

Our film “Blind” received recognition at international film festivals – in the countries of the European Union and NATO, for example, in Romania, and also in Sweden, India, Malaysia, and South Korea. Practice shows that we need to continue making films in the best traditions of our cinema – with heroic examples of the exploits of the defenders of the Fatherland, the courage and self-sacrifice of ordinary people living among us in peaceful life. I am convinced that in Europe and Asia there are a huge number of people who value spirituality and eternal values, no matter who tries to abolish the sacred bonds common to all and turn people against Russia.