Darkhan Tulegenov, 24
"Ray of the morning dawn" short movie
Awards: “Eurasia” International Film Festival award for the best short film (2016), Grand Prix of "Kyrgyzstan is the Country of Short Films" International Film Festival (2015), Grand Prix for "Three Days of Outcasts" (2015), Juryʼs prize of "Kinoproba" International Film Festival(2016) ), "Kyrgyzstan is the country of short films" award for the best male role (2015), Monaco charity film festival award for the best male role (2017).
All children start directing since childhood by managing and making up plays with toys starring in. I was playing with soldiers and building my own story. I had a hero and a story he was to go through to catch the main villain. There’re a great many videos on YouTube with games stories, so modern children do know that direction. I got acquainted with cinema in the early 2000's watching "Gladiator" by Ridley Scott at the cinema for the first time. That was when I fell in love with the cinema. Being seven years old, I was quite shocked realizing that cinema is more than just a script and a story. That was when I fell in love with directing so I left school after the ninth form for the theater college.
All my ideas base on real life. I want to share personal stories experienced by me and my friends. The main is to understand what you want to tell in the film and tackle the problem so that a viewer finds solution on his/ her own as I donʼt think that explaining all the details is a good idea.
On film festivals
Festivals are necessary for students to develop, to improve as itʼs the only way to compare, show your movies and watch othersʼ, which is really motivating and inspiring. That triggers your desire to win. Attending a Festival for the second or the third time, you start to want to learn and achieve more. I took part and won awards in many festivals conducted in CIS countries, Europe, and Kazakhstan such as “Eurasia" and "Bastau." Film festivals are some kind of a step towards the next film which is important to take, since first and foremost you make a movie for viewers. Your viewers enjoy short films either at festivals or on the Internet. If you have rewards, people got interested in stuff you make.
Financial issues make a short film shoot a bit complicated, although all the films I made werenʼt invested at all. Therefore, the main thing is to have a team, to be sociable, and to interest a cast. Youʼd better not use your friends only, but invite professional actors to work at an advanced level. Youʼre the first to convince people that everything will work out so that your cast works without payments. Sometimes plans crush and you have to improvise. Some actors whom you donʼt pay can shoot for one day, and you have to improvise, shoot a few scenes in a day, which is a wrong approach, undoubtedly, but you must be flexible.
I was scared of nothing while debuting. l just took the camera and started to take pictures. I wasnʼt afraid of any organizational moments or failures. I just did it. You should be confident about the idea youʼre to present people. A good script and idea do turn your film into the captivating one.
Berik Zhahanov, 28
“Troyetochie" (Suspension points) Kazakhstan movie
Cinema is my way to express myself. I left school after the ninth grade for a film technical school to study the major of a TV operator. Having graduated from college, I spent a year hanging around and having no idea how to colour my life. Once I met Valery Zadarnovsky, director. Seeing the set and the working process I caught on to the idea. These were two crazy days of filming, which impressed and changed me a lot. I decided to enter Zhurgenov Academy of Arts.
On ideasI wrote many scripts while studying at the academy. I made up ideas, I wrote, I transferred them to the screen. At the fourth year of studying I got acquainted with Antonioniʼs works, whose films helped me change the angle I look at cinema. His films such as "Eclipse", "Profession: Reporter" absolutely changed my view. He has a brilliant saying about catharsis: in case you have no idea what to shoot, youʼd better get inspired from your own inner conflicts which you turn into the image.
Tarkovsky used to often repeat this state. In that period of my life I had a difficult relationship and needed to speak out with the help of cinematography. Having shot the film, I felt the catharsis they told about. While writing a script, the director must base on his/her feelings, on the idea s/he wants to represent. You cannot be startled with the idea as soon as you open your laptop. Itʼs you who youʼre inspired by. Some directors have their own points on this, as some work with their fantasy. Life is the cinema with nothing to add or invent. Why not to show the fun or tragedy you overcome in the movies you shoot?
On film festivalsI started my career being a freshman. My first course work took part in the out-of- competition program at Cambridge University in London. I participated in festivals held in the Czech Republic, St. Petersburg, New York and Kazakhstan. At the fifth year of study I won the prize for Best Director at the Film Festival in Kyrgyzstan, Grand Prix in Yaroslavl. Recently I shot a short film "Asan" on the sponsorship of "Kazakhfilm".
On difficultiesThe main difficulty is limited time, which you must put the whole meaning in. A short film shoot is the result of a long-time preparation. Now I'm thinking of the script for a new full-length film, making a team and looking for like-minded people.
Advice to novice filmmakersYou have to prepare and recruit people not indifferent to your movie.
Karchin Ilya, 21
"Flute-spine” experimental short film
I was watching “Star Wars" while being a child and felt "strength" inside myself.
That was when I got interested in the way such films are made. At first I repeated the film scenes with my toys starring as the characters. Things have changed and now I control real men. Later I and my friends tried to repeat footage and scenes from films, trailers. I like to make up things from nothing. Also, the process of creating a video is always accompanied by the acquisition of new knowledge, acquaintances and friends. Anyway, while taking pictures or shooting, you notice more things around you, the feelings become more acute, as if youʼre living full life.
On ideasI shoot the things I like. I make ads, MVs and short films. Iʼd better focus on one thing only, but I donʼt want to tame myself into the frame. A director must be interested, otherwise your creativity will turn into ordinary work. One day I make a gloomy stuff, while the other I shoot a kind fairy tale. I change, my views change, the world changes, so Iʼll never be able to work in one genre only.
On difficulties A musical film or any other large project takes more than six months. Viewers witness only the result, but each film experiences a lot while being made.
