Nigina Saifullaeva on the wave of female cinema and the role of the father

IN RUBRIC "BUSINESS"we introduce readers to women of different professions and hobbies that we like or are simply interested in. This issue is directed by Nigina Saifullaeva, one of the main representatives of the new wave of Russian cinema, who received a special jury diploma with the wording “For light breathing and artistic integrity” for the film “What is my name” at Kinotavr. The story of two high school students who came to Crimea to meet the father of one of them and at the last moment decided to change names, is the full-length debut of Sayfullaeva, who had previously shot Deffchonki and Likes Dislikes episodically. But the main thing is her short films "I want with you" and "Rosehip", also fragile stories about maturing girls, after which they began to call their author with might and main "Russian Bertolucci".

The story of the film "What is My Name" grew out of my psychological experiences. I believe that the relationship of father and daughter is a powerful topic that applies to all girls. Therefore, it seems to me important. But one should not overestimate the autobiography of this film - my dad and I have excellent, very close relations, but I had to work on it. And I would like to push this and others. My idea was to make a movie not about growing up girls, but specifically about the need for their relationship with their father. On the importance of gaining kinship experience with a man. After all, otherwise in the future it is very difficult to build normal relations with a guy, and even more so - a husband. In childhood there is a period when you say "I will marry dad." You love him, you have no other image of a man - only this one. When you enter a more reasonable age, it naturally dissolves and comes to an adequate “dad-daughter” relationship. And this is a mandatory childhood experience that everyone needs to live. In the story “What is my name?” There is a certain effect of the sitcom reception “we exchanged bodies”, but I did it consciously, because I wanted the story to start very easily - with some joke. That is, as in life, when we somehow act idiotically, and then, as they say, we cry. I have been looking for a co-author for a long time, because it did not work for anyone, and I was advised to Lyuba Mulmenko. I saw her performances, read her texts and wrote her a letter - then she lived in Perm. Lyuba Mulmenko feels the word very subtly and knows how to manage it, it was thanks to her that she had the opportunity to tell the story in some nuances: that is, the heroines can talk about anything, but we still understand that something important is happening.

It’s much harder for me to think about a man - I’m breaking through the wilds of misunderstanding and analysis, and I understand everything intuitively about girls

When we wrote the script, we had no idea that this would be Lavronenko. We invented a hero, and then began the search for a particular person. For a long time could not find. At first I tried to look for a "dad" among unknown actors, because I thought it would be better for this movie, which should be as realistic as possible. Not found. Then Tolstunov said: "Let's look among famous people." Started to watch. In life, in many men I can see the beautiful, but as soon as I began to look for "dad", some kind of horror happened. Everywhere it was all wrong. And then we met with Constantine - and everything immediately happened. He looked like a real dad. We even got a tattoo for him, which my dad recently filled himself with. I find girls for my films in different places, but usually I spend a lot of casting. I knew Sasha Bortich a little earlier - she was with me at another casting, where she came by chance, then she didn’t study, but worked as a waitress, and made a huge impression on me. But then she was completely stupid. This her irrepressible energy - it was not clear where to put it. I called her all the time everywhere, on all my projects, she didn’t fit anywhere until I started working on "What is my name". It became clear that she seemed created for this role. And Marina Vasilyeva, a student of the Moscow Art Theater, came on the first day of the casting, and immediately all the questions were answered. It was important for me that they were not just great actresses, but that in life they were the same as their heroines. I hope they do not offend. Quite a different thing happened with Anya Kotova and Kirill Kaganovich. I fell in love with them in advance. Even before writing the script. And the characters were already written specifically for them. Also such a special experience. It is terrible, after all, suddenly wrote out for them, and then once - and they would not fit. Fortunately, love is strong. They perfectly matched themselves. It's easier for me to shoot about girls, well, that is, it is clearer and more interesting. It’s much harder for me to think about a man - I’m breaking through the wilds of misunderstanding and analysis, and I understand everything intuitively about girls. Probably, with the age of the director of his heroine grow up. I see that I have a heroine in each film a couple of years older than the previous one, so perhaps in the next film the heroine will be even older. The fact is that there are no fewer psychological problems with age.

The principle of filming a big movie and television I have one - to have fun. But, of course, there is a difference in the usefulness of this pleasure. Still, the series - this is when you work on someone else's idea, with some other people's goals. Still this crazy rhythm that kills all living things. It is impossible, for example, to devote as much time to rehearsals as is necessary. And then it is all perfectly visible on the screen. And in the movie you realize your own thought, and from this the whole process takes on some other shade. Painstaking training, painstaking rehearsals, and the team works differently. First, here you collect it yourself, unlike the series, where producers do it. Here it is your personal choice, you can answer for each person - hence a different approach, with great feeling and attention, the desire to help each other. In general, the principle is one, but the process is different. As for so many films by female directors this year, it seems to me that this is just some kind of amazing coincidence. Next year we all will probably be in post-production, and there will be more men again. I am just inside this process, it is difficult for me to take a few steps and look from the outside in order to assess this phenomenon. But it's cool, in my opinion, that there are a lot of girls. As if everyone at once ceased to be shy. I feel that young female directors have some kind of common internal conjuncture. These are realistic stories about ordinary people, very private stories, with a personal, author's intonation. It's all terribly close to me. But in the meantime, there is a huge layer of another, let's say, “big art” cinema, which I also like very much. Next year my husband’s film will be released (Mikhail Mestetsky, author of the short film “Legs - Atavism”, leader of the Shklovsky group and scriptwriter of the film “Legend No. 17.” - Ed.) - everything is different there, wildly cool. This is an amazing movie, it seems to me that we have never had such a film language in principle.

New prohibitive laws on mat, on rental IDs can bury the entire film industry and our optimism in two accounts

How is it to be a female director? Perhaps we should ask the group. And then it seems to you that how you work - they just work, they just need it. And groups that work with different directors probably know better. I had everything amicably, with an infinite number of hugs and kisses. Without hysterics. You might think that the playground should be kind of flashy, grumpy, something usually associated with a woman. But somehow everything was in my patsanski style. However, of course, the profession involves some kind of rigidity at the right moment. The difference between female directing and non-female directing is probably in the choice of the theme, the hero ... Generally, when they say "female cinema", an association with feminism arises immediately, and I am an antifeminist, I need a man in life, I cannot cope without him. Perhaps, I will say this: women's cinema mainly determines the gaze on a woman as a heroine. Interest in a woman, the study of her psychology. And, of course, most often it comes from a female director - it is closer to her, more understandable. I am annoyed by the talk that "there is no Russian cinema". It is, there are many great movies, and they are becoming more and more. The production industry is getting stronger and helping these films exist. Cinema is increasingly taking shape and turns into a good industry. But the new prohibitive laws on the mat, on rental certificates, etc., can bury the whole industry and our optimism in two accounts. Yes, I am afraid that these laws may go so far that, for example, all sex and erotica on the screen will be decided to ban. And then I will definitely have a hard time. I somehow do not see the world without beauty of this kind. It is such an inherent energy of life, without it, as if there is no life. My ideal viewer is probably the girls and their dads. I understand that it will be difficult for them to watch the movie together, everyone will be shy, but if they go to it separately it would be great.

photographer: Yegor Slizyak