2023-10-07 11:29:19
We watch a Russian-speaking military pensioner from Lithuania, Sergei Fedorovich, and his young partner Misha from the Ukrainian Konotop, who are renovating the summer house of a resident of Finland and the director’s father, Marty. It would seem that there could be something interesting here, but it’s impossible to tear yourself away, their conversations and way of thinking are so curious. And in our perception, the joint work of a Russian and a Ukrainian has acquired meanings that the author of the film could not even imagine a couple of years ago. We talk with Anna Berger about how her painting was born, why she came from Finland to Moscow and why she is studying Chinese.
— When you just started working on your film “Whom I Love…”, what was more important – interesting characters or did you want to record the process of reviving your home?
“The fact that this is my home initially did not matter much. The main thing was that the characters turned out to be interesting, the dynamics of three completely different people who were in the same place for different reasons. Their stories and life values became important to me, as did the fact that they complemented each other.
— You invited them to film. How did they react?
— I think it was in July or August 2021 at the height of the coronavirus. They were pleased that at the dacha, where there was no one, where Sergei Fedorovich’s car broke down and he couldn’t go anywhere, where the opportunity to wash himself became a big problem due to problems with electricity, they had the opportunity to take part in the filming. There was nothing for them to do. They were bored. They were glad that I was with them. This resolved the issue. They were ready to accept any of my whims, as long as I somehow brightened up their lives.
— Your hero Misha, in my opinion, is sometimes not very happy. Apparently he was tired of the constant presence of the camera.
– Yes, but he is a little irritable by nature. He has his own problems, and when he was stressed about work or anything else, it affected me. That is, he was initially annoyed not because of the camera, but for some other reasons.
— Is this your diploma work? It’s amazing that you, as a student, filmed like an experienced documentarian.
– This is my coursework. I withdrew my thesis later.
— You received a serious education, you studied in Helsinki and Oxford. Why did you decide to enter VGIK? As a European person, we could have chosen any other film school.
— I wanted to study cinema, but Russia still remains one of the leaders in education in the field of art. VGIK is the first film school in the world where great masters studied. I thought that since there was such a vibrant creative life there, then something from it should remain.
— Did you purposefully take the course with Sergei Miroshnichenko or did you not care who you studied with?
— Five years before I entered I wanted to go to VGIK, and then he was also taking courses. So partly it all happened by chance, but then I found out that his student Sofia Geweiler received many awards around the world for the film Given in Return. I thought, since Sergei Miroshnichenko’s students are like that, then I should go to him, and not to someone else, not to go to feature films.
— Why did you want to make films in the first place?
— Yes, because I studied in Oxford and Paris, and it was a scientific specialty, the study of language and literature, linguistics. I missed creativity, and I can’t live without it. I thought that cinema combines a variety of activities that are close to me. I myself am part of my paintings. And the fact that cinema unites many forms of art is its attractive side. It will not be boring. You don’t limit yourself to, say, just music. It becomes one of the components, along with other forms of art.
— Literature of which countries did you study?
— My specialty is French literature and French language.
— What did you study in Helsinki?
— In Helsinki, I graduated from a French school, and then from the Higher School of Screenwriting. I went to university at Oxford.
— Have you been to Moscow before entering VGIK?
— I visited my father as a child, and later studied at the summer school of physics and mathematics at Moscow State University and at the Pushkin Institute of Russian Language.
– What a variety of knowledge! You live in Moscow. And this is probably not the last point for you? Do you feel like a man of the world?
– I am a man of peace. I love different cultures, I appreciate international projects in which different people participate. I am currently studying Chinese and hope to expand my professional life in this direction. I love being where there are interesting artists and colleagues. Now I work in Moscow.
— You know several languages, right? What will the Chinese count be?
“I’m already confused about their number.” Probably Chinese will be the eighth. I’ll count it right now. My native language is Finnish. There are also Swedish, English, French, German, Russian, Italian, Spanish. Well, Chinese. So the eighth is foreign.
– How do you study it? With a teacher or on your own?
— There used to be a Confucius Institute in Helsinki. Recently it was closed not only in Finland, but also in some European countries. And there you could study almost for free. Now I have a question about how to finance Chinese education in Moscow. Here the money is a little different, not like in Finland.
— Do you need Chinese for some practical purposes?
— To communicate with Chinese colleagues, joint film production with China. It’s like with the Russian language. If you don’t know him, you won’t be able to work in Russia. Someone is a good professional, but does not know English, and this limits their work. I believe that knowing a foreign language is an elementary thing. It opens doors for artists to new projects. If there is no knowledge of a foreign language, then it impoverishes.
— Do you have Russian roots? Did your ancestors leave Russia around 1918–1920?
— My great-grandfather and grandmother lived in St. Petersburg. After the revolution, they first hid in their dacha, then went to Finland. Their history is connected with the Eliseevs (Sergei Eliseev is the son of the owner of the Eliseev Brothers trading partnership, a prominent Japanese scholar, and the author of the book “Flight from Petrograd to Finland.” — S.H.). They all left together.
— You were probably raised in a special way, especially since your father, judging by the film, is passionate about Russian culture.
— At home, no one spoke to me in Russian. My mother does not have Russian roots. Her native language is Finnish. I heard Russian speech only in my father’s conversations on the phone and Skype or when someone came. But this happened rarely. Love for Russian culture is what I had.
— Are your compatriots surprised that you left Finland for Russia?
“I don’t have many friends there.” I communicated more with my parents. I have good friends, and they are not surprised at my choice. Friends may be surprised. But those who have not gone crazy understand that I have a study and a profession and they are a priority for a person.
— You just graduated from VGIK. What’s next?
“This year I received my diploma and entered graduate school. I don’t have a supervisor yet. It is appointed in October depending on the chosen topic. I will write a paper about my master Sergei Valentinovich Miroshnichenko and his teaching methods.
— How is the fate of your fellow students?
– They film and win prizes. Everything is fine, I think. Of course, I cannot speak for everyone.
— Was it interesting at VGIK? What’s the atmosphere like there now? Is the creative spirit alive?
“Our master made sure that the best teachers taught us. Of course, there were subjects where not everything was as we would like. I know that once upon a time brilliant people taught at VGIK.
— You’ll do scientific work, but won’t leave directing?
— This is the main type of activity for me. I can’t talk about plans yet. We’ll see. It’s better not to talk, but to do.
— Many of your colleagues don’t know what you can film about now?
– I think everything is possible. You just have to work hard. There are a lot of interesting things that can be done now.
— Are you interested in frequent or socially oriented stories? What is your soul about?
— I’m interested in the stories of ordinary people. Based on my painting “Whom I Love…” and my thesis, it is already clear in what way I want to work. My technique is absolutely accurate. I am also a character in my films and am among those whom I film, introducing myself into their world and not commenting on anything. I would like to continue working in this direction. Everything for me is based on universal human things, and not on social ones.
— Presenting your film in Perm, you said that you took off your clothes on camera because your heroes did it, that you should be just like them, not stand out in any way. This is a bold step. I can’t imagine which of our directors would dare to do this.
– I have to take risks. I don’t know how to say it more precisely in Russian. I should not be shy and not afraid. I believe that photographing a person is a very intimate matter. You must do everything to win the hero’s trust and show them your respect.
— I would like to see your second picture to understand the poetics. Is it even important to the documentarian?
— I believe that every documentary filmmaker should find his own special film language. If you repeat the generally accepted, then this is not very interesting.
— I don’t know how you worked with your characters, but it feels like you don’t have any frankly staged scenes. The people on the screen continue their normal lives.
– This is true. All scenes are documentary. Something, naturally, was planned in advance, but this does not mean that we staged something on purpose.
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