Yakut director Alexei Romanov has been working on the same film almost all his life

There is an idea that in Yakutia, which is experiencing a film boom, only nuggets work, who have no film education, but this is not entirely true. Alexey Romanov is an example of this. He is one of the first professional Yakut directors, he received a serious education at VGIK. As a student, in 1986 he made a short graduation film “Maappa” based on the 1944 story of the same name by Nikolai Zabolotsky-Chyskhaan.

He is often called “Nikolai Zabolotsky in the Russian way”, which is why confusion arises. This is not the Soviet poet Nikolai Alekseevich Zabolotsky, but the Yakut prose writer, literary critic, translator of works of Russian classical and Soviet literature, author of “Essays on the History of Yakut Literature”. The script based on his story was written by Alexei Romanov together with director Yusup Razykov. It is about the search for love and that one woman who is destined by fate, but love can lead to a tragic ending. The story did not let go and even presented surprises. A denunciation appeared, because of which local officials were called to the carpet. A false letter came to VGIK, after which I had to explain to the teacher Tamara Makarova. In general, the story is not new: there have always been lovers of denunciations. And now, decades later, Alexei returned to the story that struck him, a new script appeared, written with the Yakut director Lyubov Borisova, whose films “The Sun Does Not Set Above Me” and “Don’t Bury Me Without Ivan” received recognition.

We met Alexei Romanov in Chukotka, where he headed the jury of the Golden Raven festival and was hardly the only guest who felt at home in a snowy city in May, when the trees were already green in Moscow. In Yakutia, the climate is more severe, and films are made there even at minus 50.

— You’ve just finished filming a new film with an amazing story, haven’t you?

– A week before our arrival in Chukotka, we completed the filming process. During the years of study at VGIK, I shot my thesis based on the mystical story of Nikolai Zabolotsky, which excited me from childhood. And now I decided to do a sequel, a sequel. 20-30 years have passed, and what happened to my hero in his youth continues to haunt him all his life. We decided to resume the project, wrote a script in the road movie genre.

– In such cases, a modern car flying along the highway is imagined. And what will you have?

— And we will have horses in the winter. And the genre is mixed – in addition to the road movie, this is a love drama, which at some point will look like a thriller.

– You managed to capture amazingly beautiful shots of the aurora borealis, blazing green skies. Does such a miracle happen in Yakutia?

– We shot everything only in Yakutia. Usually the aurora can be observed in the northern part of our republic, but this year it was observed several times in the central part, and we managed to shoot it. Almost half of the film is a journey on horseback. On the way, our heroes spend the night in a cave and in the open air. Filming was difficult, because this year there was a lot of snow in Yakutia. Its level reached almost a two-meter mark. It was extremely difficult to get through even on horseback. I had to go to all sorts of tricks. For example, a snowmobile paved the way for us, after which our caravan first passed the path once, then the second, so that no traces of equipment could be seen. This was the only way to ensure the movement of the caravan.

– Did you have to adapt your favorite story in relation to new realities?

– Adaptation was required given the fact that we are shooting a full-length picture. The story is written on the basis of the history of the Sakha people, their traditions, mentality. We often tell each other mystical stories in childhood. I was very fond of reading national literature, so when we start new projects, we always rely on our experience. When I studied with Sergei Apollinarievich Gerasimov, he said: “Alexey, you must always shoot what you know well, based on your personal experience, your history, folklore, mythology, traditions of your people. Then you will have strong and original paintings. Zabolotsky’s story has two names – “Girl in skins” and “Mappa” – after the name of the heroine.

– What are camouflages?

– This is the skin of a deer, elk, and other animals, which is used to make winter shoes. Torbaza – high boots made from the skin of a foal or deer. We wrote the script together with Lyubov Borisova. We filmed actors from three theaters in Yakutia – the Olonkho Theatre, the Theater of the Young Spectator and the Variety Theatre. All of them have previously starred in different films, have experience in film. I was pleased that the production team was entirely youth. I was a little afraid, but it turned out that our young specialists have good professional experience and do everything at a high level. I am satisfied that Yakut cinema has a future. My picture was shot by a young cameraman Petya Ivanov. Before that, I had not worked with him, I was a little worried, but literally after two or three days of shooting I calmed down. Peter left the photographers, and this is his third work in the cinema. He filmed with Styopa Burnashev “Setteeh Sir. Yyaah” (“Cursed Land. Rock”) and one more picture. Photographers have a clear eye for the frame. They know how to build a composition, light, create an image, which is often not the case for cameramen who came to the cinema and immediately started working with digital cameras. They don’t feel much. And photographers feel, so it was easy for me to work with Peter.

– In the VGIK version, did you have other characters and actors?

– Certainly. But then and now Yakut actors were filming. In my student years, we filmed at the Sverdlovsk film studio, and the film crew was from there. Now all production takes place in Yakutia. By October we have to finish the painting.

— How did you end up at the Sverdlovsk film studio?

– Then the students had directions. After graduating from VGIK, I had to work at the Sverdlovsk film studio, where I shot my thesis. I probably could have stayed there, but after VGIK I decided to create a film studio in Yakutia, so I returned to my homeland. (Alexey organized the Severfilm creative association there, and in 1992, the state national film company Sakhafilm arose on its basis. – S.Kh.).

– You have an ideal Soviet career. You were educated at a film university and immediately began working in the cinema.

– Probably so. I studied at VGIK with excellent teachers – Sergei Apollinarievich Gerasimov and Tamara Fedorovna Makarova (Soviet actress, wife of Gerasimov. – S.Kh.). We were their last course. We studied with Larisa Sadilova, whom you know well. And then I started working in films.

— Are you one of the few Yakut directors who has a professional education?

– This is wrong. Since the creation of Sakhafilm, we have been sending and sending 7–8, or even 10 people annually to study at VGIK, St. Petersburg State University of Cinematography, and the Higher Courses for Scriptwriters and Directors. About 120 people work in the Yakut cinema, and half of them have a film education. You have probably come across our directors Dima Davydov, Lyuba Borisova, Styopa Burnashev. They are without professional education, so you get that impression. For them, the film set has become a school. Before making worthwhile films, they worked on various pictures. For example, Lyuba Borisova graduated from the Financial and Economic Institute, was an assistant director, editor. Whom she just wasn’t until she mastered many specialties related to cinema, and then she just started working as a director.

– More than once I heard that the Yakut cinema does not have support at the level of local authorities. And only successes in Moscow and at world festivals changed the attitude towards the Yakut directors at home. But now the situation is changing.

— We participated in the Yakut pitching with our project. The amount received was modest. The painting required much more investment. I had to look for private, extra-budgetary funds on the side. Now we will find money for post-production. Unfortunately, Sakhafilm, as a state-owned company, has no right to receive money from the budget. This is how it is done in Russia in general. There is a register of state orders, from which the word “film production” was removed in 1996. If theaters receive salaries and money for staging five or six performances, then there is nothing like this in film production. Therefore, Sakhafilm receives funding for salaries and maintenance of its buildings, and we are forced to look for money for production on our own.