Filming has begun in Truskavets on a full-length Iranian–Czech–Ukrainian film
October 23, 10:55

A BREAK BETWEEN TAKES. FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: lead actor Dmytro Linartovych, director Ali Fakhrmousavi, and second director Valeria Sapinska.

I will not be afraid to repeat that the rumors about the death of cinema in general, and Ukrainian cinema in particular, are greatly exaggerated. While some wring their hands that catastrophically little money is allocated for film production and “potential talents are being buried,” in the village of Dobrohostiv, twenty kilometers from Truskavets (Lviv region), shooting has begun on the full-length feature film Autumn Memories. This simple story is about the most important things in a person’s life. About the “post-war” syndrome of the Ukrainian activist, volunteer, and ATO volunteer fighter Anatoliy (Dmytro Linartovych), who, after being wounded, comes to Western Ukraine for treatment. About the dramatic fate of a refugee from Iraq, Imeh (Nazanin Ahmadishahpourabadi). About the almost existential life tragedy of simple villagers Sashko (Oleksandr Ihnatusha) and Natalia (Tetiana Yurikova). But above all, this is a film about humanity. And about Love, which helps one to survive the most difficult life shocks and gives faith in the future. And if this feeling is sincere, neither age, nor mental and cultural differences, nor the language issue can stand in its way.

A journalistic “landing party,” to whom the filmmakers decided to reveal some creative secrets, arrived on set as one of the key episodes of the film was being shot. A local boy, Ivanko, comes into Sashko’s workshop, where Anatoliy, who has recently returned from the ATO, is working, and asks him what war is. Anatoliy explains to the boy about Maidan as best he can, and says that defending one’s homeland is a duty and an honor for every man. Ivanko doesn’t understand everything, but he listens attentively, and at that moment someone from the neighbors runs in to say that an unknown unconscious girl has been found in the forest. In essence, this is the film’s inciting incident.

The scene was filmed in the real workshop of one of Dobrohostiv’s residents — the colorful Mr. Mykola. And while the crew was building the shot and setting the light, the host told me the story of the village’s name: not far from it there is a kirnytsia (a dialect word for “well” — Author), and back in the times of the Tatar–Mongol invasion, the chumaks (ox-cart traders), exhausted by long journeys, happened upon it by chance (people did not live here then), drank the water, rested, and in gratitude named this place Dobrohostiv. The name, as I understand it, needs no decoding. And for the film crew of Autumn Memories, the village has lived up to its name. It received the filmmakers kindly — some residents even provided their homes for filming certain scenes. As for Mr. Mykola, he did not immediately agree to let the crew into the workshop that so appealed to the director: “They came many times — I didn’t want them to film here; it wasn’t interesting to me. But once everything went that way — what was there to do… Now I’ve relaxed a bit,” the host says with a sly smile. “I baked potatoes for them a few times. They say they liked it.”

Casting for bit parts has been announced in Truskavets and Drohobych. A feisty Truskavets schoolboy, Nazar (Ivanko), has already won the role. What’s more, he believes that his role is the main one in the film, and he dreams of buying himself a cool iPad with the fee he’ll receive.

THE EASE OF TRANSLATION

Soon the filming of the scene in the workshop began, and the journalists had to become simple observers. But cinema is not only a synthetic art — which has long been known — it is also a filmmaking process that sometimes breaks into pauses, during which I managed to talk with many of its participants. From individual puzzle pieces a fairly voluminous picture of the future film took shape.


Ali Fakhrmousavi, director (Iran), married to a Russian-speaking Ukrainian woman from Novograd-Volynskyi, lives and works in Czechia:

“Once I read the words of my favorite writer, Gabriel García Márquez: ‘If you fall in love — it means you are young; if not — you are already old!’ I always pondered the situation: what would happen if two men — an older one and a younger one — fell in love with a beautiful girl at the same time? In our film it is even more complicated — Imeh (that is the heroine’s name) is from another country, she does not know the language. I love such stories — a drama with atypical (and for me very important) relationships between the characters.”

Viktor Vilhelm, producer (Czechia), married to a Ukrainian woman, lives between Ukraine and Czechia:

“When the idea of this film arose, I immediately thought of Ukraine. After all, it is, essentially, my second homeland. At first, it’s true, we planned to shoot in Lviv, but the film’s budget is quite modest — problems arose. And I immediately remembered Truskavets, because I have repeatedly been a participant in the International Film Festival Korona Karpat, I know these places well, and I like them very much. In addition, we are being given maximum assistance here, which is very important, since we plan to finish shooting in a month — by the end of autumn.”



“QUIET ON SET! MOTOR! SHOOTING!” IN THE FRAME — actor Oleksandr Ihnatusha

Oleksandr Ihnatusha, actor (Ukraine):

“I like the story of Autumn Memories because it is simple and understandable. The other matter is what to fill it with, but that depends on us — the actors and the director. I would like there to be no emptiness between the lines, but for the biographies of the people to be read there. I also like that Ali removes the ‘letters’ as much as possible. That is, if didacticism can be excluded by cinematic means, he does it. He shoots cinema in its original sense. Besides (I haven’t heard whether the director has acting experience), Ali suggests some things (from the profession) very precisely. He knows down to nuances what he wants to achieve in the frame.

Oddly enough, at this stage the way we are working reminds me a little of Bergman — with silence in the frame, glances and unspoken things. Especially in the scenes with Natalia (Tetiana Yurikova), with whom we have a child — but that is our secret. A touch, a pulling-back of the hand — someone cannot help but touch, and someone else is unable to endure the touch. Nuances that in modern TV series, for example, are simply ignored — there, the more words you say, the more it seems there is ‘action.’

In this story it is about war — without war, and that is very valuable, because it is still present somewhere. At least in the script I felt this. It seems to me that Ali also feels it and clearly leads the ‘war’ line. Yesterday by chance we shot a beautiful frame: an ATO soldier is walking along the road toward the house where I live, and unexpectedly — a herd of cows cuts across his path (mmm-dyrin, mmm-dyrin). The metaphor arises instantly: the sacred animal and the slaughter… It reads well. I think viewers will understand it.

The so-called love line is also nontrivial. The refugee Imeh is from Iraq. She is played by the Iranian actress Nazanin. She is from another world, a Muslim. Another culture, another mentality. We look at many things differently, even in everyday life. But perhaps there is an advantage in this. If Imeh were played by a Ukrainian actress, we would have to think up some situational things, whereas in this case everything happens naturally. Imeh finds herself in a world unfamiliar to her, she gets to know it, and this (our) world also begins to look at the refugee with new eyes.”

 

Dmytro Linartovych, actor (Ukraine):

“First I’ll tell you something from my personal life. One morning the doorbell rang in my apartment — they brought me a draft notice. I was being called up for service in the ATO, and before that — military training at the Rivne training ground. And a few days later — a call from producer Viktor Vilhelm. An offer to act in a film. I read the script, I liked it. But I could not leave the training ground, of course, not even for a day. However, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine met the film crew halfway and gave permission for my participation in the film. So today I’m on set. The story we are telling is important to me personally on a purely human level. I have talked with many servicemen who have already been through the ATO, and I know that ‘post-war syndrome’ is a very important and frightening moment in their lives. Psychologically first and foremost. And our film is about how a soldier who has come from war learns to live anew. Autumn Memories is a human story, a breath of fresh air that many people lack today.”

Tetiana Yurikova, actress (Ukraine):

“Undoubtedly, the theme of the film — love and war — always stirs one emotionally. And today, when hostilities continue in eastern Ukraine and the Middle East, it is especially relevant and painful for our countries. But for me and my heroine — it is, first of all, a universal human story. A story of love between people. And it is not important which country they live in or what year is on the calendar.”


PATRIOTISM IS NOT ONLY ‘A FLAG IN YOUR HANDS’

Oleh Karpyn, director of the International Film Festival Korona Karpat (Ukraine):

If the businessman, public figure, and activist of the volunteer movement Oleh Karpyn did not exist in Truskavets, he would have to be invented! He loves his small homeland — Lviv region — and the country of Ukraine so sincerely that he is ready to undertake any, however complicated, absolutely unfamiliar matter in order to make the Truskavets resort comfortable, prosperous, and well-known. And, notably, everything works out for him.

“I often say that I am a dreamer. But to achieve a dream I go to the end! Six years ago we conceived the International Film Festival Korona Karpat, and we made it. Today our forum is known not only in Lviv region and Ukraine, but also abroad,” Mr. Oleh told us. “Well-known actors, directors, singers gladly come to us and bring wonderful, high-quality films. And this is not only the promotion of such a marvelous art as cinema, but also the popularization of the Truskavets resort and the influx of tourists to Lviv region.

All these years I thought how good it would be to shoot films in our area, in the Carpathians, but I still did not know from which side to approach implementing such plans. And at last year’s Korona Karpat Film Festival, when Crimea was already temporarily inaccessible for Ukrainian filmmakers, we held a meeting attended by representatives of the State Film Agency of Ukraine, where we raised this issue. They supported our idea. If hundreds of millions of dollars are spent annually in Ukraine on purchasing Western film and television products that are often not of the highest quality, why not master this money within the country? There are countless arguments ‘for.’

First. In Lviv region the transport infrastructure is developed — there are many day and night trains that run from Kyiv to Lviv and Truskavets. Actors do not have to live constantly on location; having shot the scenes in which they are involved, the next day, for example, they can already be acting on the stage of a capital theater. Ninety kilometers from Truskavets there is an international airport, which makes it realistically possible to work with foreign partners.

Nature and architecture in Lviv region allow for the shooting of films of different genres — within a radius of 150 kilometers from Truskavets there are mountains, plains, rivers, lakes, palaces. Not far away are Hutsulshchyna, Boykivshchyna, Lemkivshchyna — a Klondike for all sorts of folkloric stories. All these facts lie on the surface.

But first it was necessary to create a so-called film commission. Such organizations (they often exist at municipalities or work closely with them) have long existed in different countries and take direct and active part in the preparation and production of films. Members of film commissions know perfectly all the locations of a region that may be interesting to filmmakers (they have booklets with photographs and video reels). They are in direct contact with the authorities of a city or village, which helps to promptly solve urgent problems during the shooting period — to close/block roads, rent schools, hospitals, ensure accommodation and meals for the crew, and so on. In some countries there is even a law — if five million dollars or euros come into the state budget as investment during the making of a film, the municipality can decide to return 10 (and sometimes even 20!) percent from the tax. In this way, the desire of investors to invest in cinematography and to shoot films in a specific region is encouraged.

Second argument. During the period when a film is being shot in a city or region, additional jobs appear, hotels fill up, and the inflow of visitors to cafés and restaurants increases.

Third. If a film is shot in Lviv region, viewers from other cities and countries will be able to discover its nature and architectural landmarks, and automatically the flow of tourists and vacationers to our land will increase, to see this beauty with their own eyes. And this is a real inflow of money into the region.

There is also a fourth argument that testifies to the prospects that open up for a locality where a film is shot. I would call it ‘the cream on top.’ If a film turns out successful — and even more so, becomes a bestseller — excursions begin to be conducted in the places where shooting took place. It was like that, for example, with the blockbusters Star Wars, The Hobbit, and many other successful Western projects. By the way, there are precedents in Ukraine as well — Khotyn Fortress in the Kamianets-Podilskyi district of Khmelnytskyi region. Films such as Viper, Zakhar Berkut, Robin Hood’s Arrows, D’Artagnan and the Three Musketeers, Ballad of the Valiant Knight Ivanhoe, Taras Bulba were shot there at different times, and guides creatively play with these facts during excursions. But the brightest example is the popular series Game of Thrones. Today, hundreds of thousands of tourists from all over the world come to Croatia, where the series was filmed, just to see with their own eyes the palaces they remember from the show. And this has already brought 18 million dollars into the country’s treasury. Thanks to the tourist flow alone, Croatia’s budget increased by 10 percent!

I studied all these nuances for a year, wrote letters to various film studios, proposing cooperation with our region. Some became interested — director Oleh Shcherbyna came to us with Italian filmmakers to survey locations, as did the Kyiv producer and screenwriter Tetiana Hniedash. Of course, I understood that such projects do not ‘fire’ instantly, but I continued to hope that in time we would nevertheless begin to shoot films in Lviv region.

A coincidence helped. I would even say — a sad one. As volunteers, we were looking for an armored vehicle for the ATO zone. We found one in Czechia, but could not finalize the deal with its owner — neither on the price nor on the fact of sale itself. Then I called producer Viktor Vilhelm in Prague, whom I have known for a long time, and asked for help. He immediately contacted the car’s owner, our representatives were already in Czechia the next day, processed the documents for the vehicle, and now the armored car is in the East.

Soon after this incident, Viktor called to say that he was coming to Truskavets to look at locations for a future film. He came, he looked. A few days later — another call: ‘In October we begin shooting the film.’ I was even a little taken aback — I thought this was a matter for the future. I tried to persuade the producer to move the shoot to a later date — I argued that the timing wasn’t very opportune: hotels were still full (this year, starting from June–July, there was a very large flow of vacationers), preparations for elections were underway, and the people of Truskavets had quite enough problems without cinema. Viktor was adamant; he said that for many reasons the film had to be shot by the end of autumn.

And it worked out. On October 7, the first day of shooting, the director of Autumn Memories, Ali Fakhrmousavi, traditionally broke a plate for good luck. And now the filming process is in full swing — without fuss and stoppages. By the way, the ATO soldier who received the armored vehicle from the volunteers in Czechia has already been demobilized, came to Truskavets, and today is supposed to come to the set for a casting for a bit part (according to the plot, one of the scenes requires a character who has returned from the war in the East). You see how everything in life intertwines. So, even faster than I thought, my second dream is becoming reality!

And now I am already making more ambitious plans for the future. I want to make a film about a local national hero, the UPA fighter Roman Rizniak (“Makomatskyi”). He is a legendary figure. Before World War II he was the “king” of football, playing for Truskavets’ Zoria. When the war began, his brother Myroslav repeatedly reproached Roman that his head was only full of girls and carousing, and urged him to join the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists to fight the enemy. Roman excused himself — saying that his time had not yet come. But when Myroslav was arrested and tortured in the NKVD dungeons, Rizniak joined the OUN. The Organization sent him to special courses in Munich, from where he returned to his homeland — into the underground. With forged documents, dressed as a German officer (he knew the language perfectly), he drove wagons to take weapons out of German depots. One day an operation failed, Rizniak was wounded, but he survived and reappeared in the Truskavets–Drohobych orbit. Now, having donned a Soviet officer’s uniform, he got into a military hospital, played cards, drank vodka with the wounded, and listened to their talk that “this elusive Makomatskyi” (Rizniak’s pseudonym — Author) would be caught soon anyway. Leaving the hospital, he left an autograph on a bedsheet: “Makomatskyi was here”!

There are many such adventurous, risky episodes in Roman Rizniak’s biography. He was hunted by both the Germans and the NKVD — and no one could catch him. Then Moscow sent Stalin’s friend, Major General Saburov, to Drohobych as head of the regional NKVD. His task was — at any cost — to find Makomatskyi. And at that time Rizniak started an affair with the general’s beautiful Jewish wife Nina, knew all the secret information — and again was invulnerable…

The NKVD tracked down Makomatskyi after all. He fought back until his last bullet and, when they surrounded him, he detonated a grenade. The family of Roman Rizniak, exiled to Siberia, received a telegram from acquaintances: “A wedding took place at Pomirky (an area on the outskirts of Truskavets — Author). The groom was Roman.”

I have dwelt on this story in some detail so that the readers of your newspaper understand how many fascinating plots and true heroes our land conceals. After all, agree that if a film about Roman Rizniak (“Makomatskyi”) is ever made, it could truly become a bestseller, no less popular than the films about James Bond. Only it would be not about an American superman, but a Ukrainian one! I hope that this dream of mine will also come true, since the beginning has already been made — the shooting of the Iranian–Czech–Ukrainian picture Autumn Memories. Let us wish success to this international creative team!

AuthorсIryna Hordiichuk
Issue of the newspaper: No. 192 (2015)
Section: Culture