Interview with upcoming film director Ekaterina Gorbacheva
Welcome Ms Gorbacheva we are very excited to have you today with us to discuss about your work.
First off, Who is Ekaterina Gorbacheva and how did the passion for filmmaking begun ?
Ekaterina Gorbacheva is a director and producer of feature films and television. A graduate of the Film and Television Institute (GITR), Moscow. The graduation film "Sob" was in the program of the Cannes Film Festival "French Riviera Film Festival" and received a special mention and a month later received the "Outstanding Performance" award at the international Greek film festival "AIMAFF".
The previous student work "Unregistered Souls" received the main prize in the nomination "Best Student Feature Film" at the international Kazan film festival "ZILANT" and the main prize in the nomination "Best director's work" at the international Kazan film festival "Winged Bars" in 2023.
An ambitious girl who takes everything from life and always achieves her goal.
Ekaterina Gorbacheva: Passion began from my birth. I filmed or staged something, but in my childhood and adolescence I did not do this professionally and no one taught me this. I grew up in a tiny town, graduated from a music school, studied at an ordinary comprehensive school, but always felt and knew how to shoot, what and what to shoot about. At the age of 15, I already wanted to go on stage as a director and talk to people: I sent my music video to the All-Russian Film Festival and took my first serious award. It was bronze. Then, being a graduate of the school I shot a new short film and sent it to five more major all-Russian film festivals in a row.
Everywhere there was a victory.
Can you tell us about your previous work ?
Ekaterina Gorbacheva: The previous work is a musical short film "Unregistered Souls", which tells about three life periods of young people who are connected by the tragedy of the same name: the life of a modern musician Fedor, the life of a famous poet and musician
Alexandr Bashlachev in the 80s and the life of a young freedom-loving Ivan in a piece of music.
The phrase "Unregistered soul" sounds in the song "Vanyusha" by Alexander Bashlachev (Soviet rock musician, poet, bard, to whom the film is dedicated) and I realized that it fits perfectly. These are unadapted people who live on their own, live one day, do not cling to anything. The project was created for a year and a half and already has two festival awards.
CONVERSATION ABOUT: ‘‘SOB’’
Talk to us about the tragic events that inspired your film ?
Ekaterina Gorbacheva: I think that Mikhail Kuznetsov, the author of the script for the film, will answer this question. I can only say that after reading the script, I realised that I would shoot it. This is MY script.
Mikhail Kuznetsov: I witnessed how COVID-19 took both parents from 18-year-old kids within a week. Or how those same young people, after recovering, became disabled with destroyed lungs, cognitive impairments, and similar issues that will stay with them forever. Doctors were literally burning out in COVID wards, never abandoning their patients until the end. There are millions of stories like this, all depicting helplessness and the impasse in which humanity found itself. I searched for material for a long time to express these emotions. I was inspired by the story of my grandmother's neighbor, based on which I wrote the screenplay.
Your film carefully handles a very sensitive topic. Talk to us about filmmaking in Russia today ?
Mikhail Kuznetsov: Just like everywhere else: an idea comes, a screenplay is written, a team is assembled, investors are sought, preparations are made, filming takes place, editing, and so on. The only difference is that in Russia, shooting in -15 degrees Celsius is considered normal.
Ekaterina Gorbacheva: As for me, I can add, as a person from the north, that shooting at -40 degrees Celsius is also normal!
How would you describe your directing art style ?
Ekaterina Gorbacheva: When I shoot, my personality is erased. I pass out as a human. I have no position, there are no good or bad characters, I leave each viewer to his opinion. On the film set, I am uncompromising, a dictator, but, as a leader, I try to stay unpredictable in order to be closed to the participants in the process. I can be completely different in each of my films, because I see and feel each film differently. Women's nature is multifaceted. My main tool is the actor. I always ask the actors to live the life of the characters. We build their characters bible together. Every detail from their childhood, youth and thus they build a character inside. And then they already begin to live and speak in the words of their heroes. I have always had complaints about the authenticity of acting. No director of photography, production designer or editor can make a good film without talented professional actors who will do anything for their work. I knew that Anastasia Kochetkova (Lena) would scream, cry crawl, shake her nervous system for her role, because she is obsessed with her profession. I already knew from the beginning that I would take her for the main role.
But, perhaps, in every scene of each of my films there is music. It can be sounds, notes, ambient noises, scratchy piano music. And there is a "live" camera with a ragged dynamic editing.
Is there any hidden symbolism in your work ?
Mikhail Kuznetsov: I believe there is something of Christ in the character.
What is the message the audience should convey leaving the screening of your film ?
Ekaterina Gorbacheva: I never pawn anything. This film is a historical time period that we decided to leave behind. I don't want to teach the audience anything and try to treat the characters impartially. I have no philosophy. I position myself as a person who detachedly captures what is happening in life, and structures dramaturgy during editing. I don’t like stories when they say “I plunged for a year, tried to move away from filming, tried to move away from frames” ...
Mikhail Kuznetsov: Anyone can become a necessary sacrifice. No one is immune.
Did you and your team face any difficulties while shooting your project ?
Ekaterina Gorbacheva: I don't remember. Everything flew by in one breath.
Anastasia Kochetkova: It was difficult psychological work about every character. We analyzed the history of characters a lot. And when we were on a filming location I loved walking around and soak up the athmosphere of workflow. The whole team did a great job. There were many small problems but they all gone away.
Any future projects incoming ? Along with personal aspirations.
Ekaterina Gorbacheva: At the moment, several projects are being developed and I plan to shoot them in the near future. And I won't talk about these projects - you can't talk about plans out loud! When they come out, you will be able to appreciate them at film festivals.
That was the interview with our beloved creator Ekaterina Gorbacheva and her talented crew. Our community is rising everyday, new talented filmakers and screenwriters get onboard. Be sure to check the rest of our interviews and why not schedule one for yourself to promote your work. To publish an interview simply submit on the INTERVIEW OF YOUR FILM category on our Filmfreeway page.
