A creative meeting with director Vladimir Golovnev

“Krasnoyarsk is a new destination on our country’s cinematic map.”
The “Hero” International Film Festival will contain not only screenings but also creative meetings — for instance, with Vladimir Golovnev, the director of the thriller Scurvy. We spoke with the filmmaker about Krasnoyarsk, his creative journey, and also a bit about how to choose a career in cinema.
May 19, 7:00 PM
A creative meeting with director Vladimir Golovnev
Cinema Park, Hall 4
1I Dubrovinskogo Street
No registration required

Why did you decide to take part in the ''Hero'' festival?
"I was in Krasnoyarsk about a year ago for the International Film Producers' Forum. We explored the city, visited the Krasnoyarsk region, went to interesting places, and had a lot of conversations. I came away with a very warm, good, kind impression of Krasnoyarsk, the region, and the people who live here. I really wanted to come back, and Irina Belova and I agreed that we'd figure out a way. Almost the next day, she invited me to be on the jury of the Hero Film Festival — we planned it that far in advance!
This matters to me because I feel that Krasnoyarsk is a territory where cinema is actively developing today. It truly is a new destination on our country’s cinematic map. You need to spend time here, watch films here, shoot here. You need to come here and take part in film festivals, because the prospects are great."

What advice would you give to teenagers on how to choose a career in cinema? Who would be better suited to be a director, and who will be a great producer?
"The answer seems somewhat obvious: a producer is someone who, by definition, wants to take on not only creative but also financial responsibility. Of course, a producer also carries a lot of creative responsibility — I generally think producing is largely a creative profession. However, the dominant part of their activity involves finding funds, organizing film production, managing budgets, and making things happen. There's a lot of mathematical, technical, financial, and organizational work involved.
A director, on the other hand, is someone who brings an artistic vision to life. They're a little further from the money, though I wouldn't exaggerate their independence from the budget. They're still close to it, and they still need to know how to calculate costs. But a director isn't directly handling that. Their primary focus is on set — working with staging, working with actors. So obviously, they're different professions. Which one suits you depends on your inclinations. Sometimes you can even tell by the tone of voice who you're dealing with — a director or a producer. They speak a little differently; their emphasis in conversation is different."

How did you get into the film industry?
"My first degree is in history and anthropology, and I spent a lot of time on ethnography as well. One way or another, I've always been interested in historical science. But for me, it wasn't just about history; it was also about the ways of telling that history.
Even when I was studying at the History Department of Omsk State University, I was always involved in various creative activities — now I understand they were directorial in nature, like student theater. So after I graduated from the history department, I went to Moscow and enrolled in the Independent School of Cinema and Television 'Internews' (in the workshop of Vladimir Fenchenko and Marina Razbezhkina). There I received additional professional education as a film director.
I've made a lot of documentary films, and I still do. But today I've also made my fiction feature debut with the full-length film Scurvy. I have no intention of giving up documentaries — it's just that fiction film is an addition to that, another possible way of telling a story. Not every story can be told using the language of documentary cinema. Sometimes a mystical thriller is very hard to tell through documentary language — for that, you need fiction. So if a story comes along that needs to be told, say, through animation, I'd gladly try my hand at animation."

It's always a pleasure to talk with an interesting person! That's why we recommend you attend this creative meeting — especially since the timing is so convenient: 7:00 PM on May 19 at Cinema Park!