Please tell us about the projects you worked on before making ‘A Moth On a Bomb’. How did you start, and how did you learn to make films?
I consider myself an unconventional person. I am self-taught in almost everything I do. I became a professional dancer and choreographer out of passion and have been one for almost 20 years. I’ve danced and choreographed with leading companies around the world, including Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch in Germany, Gothenburg Dance Company in Sweden, Theater Basel in Switzerland, and Provincial Dances Theatre in Russia. In the same way I approached choreography, I also ventured into music and filmmaking.
I am passionate about my craft and channel all my talents and aspirations into the areas that draw me in. I am an engineer in physics by education, so I am an explore and inventor, and I have spent over 10,000 hours practically immersed in art-making. Cinema has always intrigued and inspired me. When I direct or compose a story, frame, or movement, it feels like second nature to me—everything falls into place. It was only a matter of time before I acted on it. One day, I bought myself a movie camera, and the journey began. Luckily I started joining film projects, learning the technical aspects of the industry hands-on, from the inside.
Tell us about ‘A Moth On a Bomb’. How do you describe it?
I had made couple of short films before, but I consider those more as exercises in developing and practicing my language and craft. ‘A Moth on a Bomb' is the first film I regard as the «real deal».
I began working on it during the pandemic. The free time I had during the Covid lockdown allowed me to fully immerse myself in filmmaking. The sense of isolation that marked that period, along with a deeper inward focus, gave rise to images and questions. I wanted to create a portrait of a human being that would, indirectly and allegorically, reflect the contradictory nature of humanity — the struggle, the beauty, and the ambiguity of living.
A dancer deeply and quickly feels the connection with themselves — physically, mentally, and emotionally — as well as with the universe and creation. The body conveys experiences far richer than words. Yet, without words, we as a species struggle to understand each other or convey our inner worlds. This became a key question for the film. Language is a starting point for understanding, but it cannot fully express what one experiences. That’s where the image, the sign, the symbol come in — allowing the inexpressible and hidden to surface in this film.
The film’s space is saturated with intimacy. We sense a barely perceptible breath seeping through the silence, only to suddenly feel as if we're endlessly falling, unable to grasp anything stable or safe. The truth reveals itself somewhere between the words, beyond the images, pulsing ever more strongly with the inevitability of encountering what cannot be avoided.
Please tell us about your favorite filmmakers.
The list can be very long but I'll highlight a few.
Magic realism excites me, as well as the game between reality and fiction. I am inspired by and learn a lot from such film directors as Alice Rohrwacher, Sergey Parajanov, Mikhail Kalatozov, brothers Dardenne, Chantal Akerman, Dziga Vertov, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Jean-Luc Godard.
If you were given a good budget, what would be your ideal project?
With a good budget, I would pay my actors and crew generously. From my experience, I’ve seen that human resources are often underpaid, especially in the dance industry. I would invest in gathering and nurturing a creative team, setting up thorough research, and providing ample residency time and space for the development of scripts.
I’d also invest in careful planning and production to ensure that everything runs as smoothly and efficiently as possible. When the groundwork is well laid, I believe the process of rehearsals and filming can be filled with playfulness and joy even if the themes and storyline are physically, mentally and emotionally challenging. Of course I would set aside good sums for post-production, festival round, networking and distribution. I think every stage of film making is important, and all these stages are done by people, so the atmosphere, acknowledgment of contribution and decent compensation for work are incredibly important.
Describe how you would ensure that production is on schedule. What steps would you take?
Again people, their competence and willingness to learn. Communication is the key. Team work, healthy and respectful communication and environment, then people can move mountains together. Transparent and fearless crisis management. Problems and obstacles will happen, that’s normal. There’s no mistake, only experience. A persistent contribution to the team building, trust and open communication, generous support and appreciation of the efforts and expertise.
What was the hardest part of making ‘A Moth On a Bomb’.
If possible, tell us about your next work. What plans do you have for your future work?
The hardest part was deciding to make a short film rather than a series of episodes from the material we had — a case of “killing your darlings,” as they say. I was split between making five full 20-minute episodes, each focusing on one of the characters in the film, or 1 short film. We had so much brilliant content. Cutting it down to a short film was not easy, but I still believe it was the right decision. I’m considering releasing some sort of companion shorts to ‘A Moth on a Bomb’ — five very short episodes, around 4-5 minutes each.
Now, I’ve started working on the script for my next short film, about a man who has the superpower to vividly and precisely experience the emotions of others in his own body, physically. He earns a living by offering this as a service, allowing people to offload and transform their feelings through him. It's sort of a dance film with kink elements that explores the theme of how cruelty and tenderness are closely intertwined. I’m just beginning the script, and as always, it will be a fusion of cinema, dance, fiction, and reality. I plan to finish the script by the end of 2024 and film it in the summer of 2025.
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