“Resist more, obey less”

“Resist more, obey less”

Interview with Artem Firsanov, a graduate of VGIK, who was prohibited from filming his graduation work

How does censorship work at VGIK? For showing what film can the police be called? How can a student fight for his rights? Dmitry Sidorov talked with Artem Firsanov about this and much more: he decided to make a graduation documentary about Kirill Serebrennikov, but in the end he made a film about how he was banned from filming it.

Artem Firsanov

VGIK graduate, director of a documentary film about Kirill Serebrennikov

— Do you think it’s necessary to talk about pressure and arbitrariness in universities?

I did not want to receive my diploma from the hands of hypocrites and liars. It's not nice to receive your dream diploma signed by their hand

- Certainly. We were all deceived anyway: both those who were silent and those who were not, so there is nothing to be afraid of. They scared me that there was a black mark on me in the film community, that I would no longer direct. And if I were silent, then what? And so no one would help me with anything. Now I have received my diploma and I have all the same opportunities as others.

— Diploma with a C?

— There it is “satisfactory” for the diploma, and “excellent” in all other disciplines. This is not the diploma I would like to receive. When all the events began, I was ready to give it up. I did not want to receive my diploma from the hands of hypocrites and liars. It's not fun to receive your dream diploma signed by their hand.

— Did the promised problems with the film community arise?

- Everyone has problems. Now I teach mobile shooting and editing. At the end of August I attended a Gidon Kremer concert in Sion, Switzerland. For the concert, I made a video that runs parallel to the performance. I don't feel any problems. But I heard from other graduates that they cannot find a job. Along with the diploma there was a funny application: if you don’t find a job, call us. VGIK has a service that supposedly helps you find a job. Of course, this is not the job of a director, this is the job of an assistant to an assistant.

— Why did you decide to go into directing?

The screening itself was an artistic event: the institute’s employees, who had been obstructing filming all year, came to watch a film about themselves

— The story began 5 years ago. For a seventeen-year-old boy, getting into VGIK was a dream. Why? This is a global question, why people go into art. It is believed that some reflection has occurred in a person’s life and he wants to record it. He writes books or makes films that touch on one or another story from his personal life. It's probably like psychotherapy. It was difficult for me not to make the film that I made [a film about the events that happened to Artyom. — Approx. ed.] . I couldn’t keep this story to myself; I wanted to dedicate this chamber and intimate film to VGIK. The screening itself was an artistic event: the institute’s employees, who had been obstructing the filming all year, came to watch a film about themselves. Now my task is to make the film more understandable for any viewer.

— Why did you decide to make the documentary “Seven”? Where did it all start?

— I followed the Gogol Center theater from the very beginning. This is an important theater for me. The screenwriter of my film also works at the Gogol Center. When the time came to submit a topic for my thesis, the whole situation with the “Seventh Studio” happened and there were no other more important events for me. As a result, I filmed about the creation of the play “Baroque,” ​​which Kirill Serebrennikov staged while under house arrest. This is probably the only such case in the world and it was incredible. My application was approved and they said that this was an important topic. I quickly started the preparatory period, in which problems had already begun, which accumulated and accumulated and ended with a call from the Russian Guard [laughs].

— Why was the “Be Kirill Serebrennikov” campaign necessary?

— The action is part of the film and was invented because we could not talk to the main character due to the fact that he was under house arrest. This is a difficult artistic task: a film about a person who practically does not appear in the frame. Therefore, we decided to take the words of Kirill Serebrennikov, spoken by him at the trial, and invite different people, spectators, and actors to read them on camera. We were forced to film this episode at VGIK; this part had long been planned with the leadership of the institute. I was asked in advance to do a minute-by-minute description of my film, that is, this shooting was not something unexpected.

But as soon as the invitation to the “action” appeared on the Internet, VGIK banned filming. This consisted in the fact that they did not sign a paper with a list of participants for admission to VGIK, citing the fact that I was organizing a political action and rally. It was the evening before the scheduled filming. I urgently move the filming to another space, because the most important thing was to carry out this filming, even without the help of VGIK. At this time, they called me from the institute and asked me not to film at all, because before that I had signed an agreement that the entire film, right down to the idea, belonged to VGIK. They threatened me that my film would be edited by another person so as not to miss the footage from the artistic event, they did not give me the footage, they insulted me and my team, and I decided to terminate the contract with the film studio, otherwise my film would have been closed forever within the walls of the institute.

— So the idea was first approved and then cancelled?

— The most important censor is your master. You bring him an application, which is examined under a microscope. My application was approved by the department and dean's office. There is your comfortable and pleasant workshop, and there is a cruel and evil educational film studio: these are different planets. In the educational film studio there are employees who have the right to sign financially, money, and there is a different way of thinking, everything is based on how to reduce the shifts and the budget of the student’s film.

My filming did not involve any complex technical aspects. I was simply denied my direct expenses - eighty thousand rubles - without any explanation. I had to rent all the equipment myself. The film “Seven” cost about seventy thousand rubles, thanks only to the fact that the screenwriter and producer of the film, Valery Pecheykin, found a person from whom we could borrow equipment for free. This is our friend Konstantin Rekunov, whom I want to thank.

— Did you film everything that happened to you to ensure your safety or for another purpose? Did you realize that this would turn into a documentary?

— From the very beginning it was difficult to understand, everything developed unpredictably. It started with the fact that I came to discuss the film with the director, an employee of the VGIK film studio. I told you about my idea because this is a person with whom you have to work for a long time. Then I installed a voice recorder for the first time, as I was faced with open aggression and conflict. I didn't know I would use it. For me it was nonsense.

Then I came to all meetings with the camera on my phone already turned on, because the topic of my film was very stressful for the institute staff. I would put on my jacket and put my phone in the front pocket. Some saw it and asked to remove it, others didn’t. This is not spy equipment. If I had known what this could lead to, I probably would have done it better and more persistently.

— How did the defense go?

I run to the new hall, enter and see that my film is shown first and it is already ending

— My film was watched several times, almost the entire department gathered for this. There was very little time left before the defense, and there was no decision yet on my admission to the exam. The master saw all the materials, I had everything ready, even Vitaly Mansky’s review of my film. It was already clear where everything was going. As a result, I was allowed to take the exam, and since this is an open event, I decided to invite spectators.

I come again to sign a document for people to enter the institute, and the dean tells me that I am organizing a rally, that he will not sign anything, that this is a political action. He calls me a scoundrel and says that no one needs my viewers and they are not welcome at the show. VGIK was simply afraid of their reaction. This was a very painful moment, as I had to be left alone with a biased committee and without any support. On the day of my defense, security measures at VGIK were increased and no one was allowed in at all, even to shows at other workshops. On the same day, the film is moved to another hall for “technical reasons.” I knew that my film had to be shown last, that's the alphabetical order. I run to the new hall, enter and see that my film is shown first and it is already ending.

The screening took place in a tiny auditorium with about twenty seats, and the entire department and the entire administration of VGIK sat there and watched my film about themselves. They did everything to ensure that no one saw my film. After the show, the commission went to a meeting. Then there was an oral defense and during it I decided to read out the list of people who were not allowed to see my film. They interrupted me, did not allow me to speak, they set up cameras to film me, I am sure of this, because on the first day of my defense there was no video equipment.

During the exam, I was not asked a single question or given a single comment, from which I concluded that the independent commission was not that “independent.” It is not normal. I was given “satisfactory” and this is the only such rating among the entire issue. I think they didn’t give it a “two” only because my retake then fell in the fall, and in the fall a big event will take place, the centenary and anniversary of VGIK, for which a billion rubles were allocated.

— Did your classmates support you?

— Directors are generally quite closed. Not like journalists. If we had immediately stood up for Kirill Serebrennikov in the same way as journalists stood up for Ivan Golunov, then perhaps everything would have gone differently.

— How did the matter reach the Russian Guard on your appeal?

I take the recorder and see that there is no memory card in it and I understand that they just stole it and refuse to give it back

“During the defense, I counted twenty violations and filed an appeal. After reviewing it again, the commission said that it needed to confer without my presence. Then I was invited to another classroom, and I left my things in that one and wanted to pick them up, but they didn’t let me do this. They immediately close the door in front of me and say that they found a recording device in my things. After my persuasion, the door is opened and VGIK employees take an inventory of my property.

People who teach cinematography, make films, receive awards for their achievements in the field of culture, turn into police officers, rummage through other people's things and draw up a report that they have found a voice recorder with a long recording and ask to delete this recording. In this situation, the decision is read to me that the appeal remains unchanged, that no violations were found during the exam, my questions are not answered, I film everything on my phone. Afterwards they tell me that I can take my voice recorder and leave. I take the recorder and see that there is no memory card in it and I understand that they simply stole it and refuse to give it back. In the end, I was forced to call the police and refused to leave the documentary lectern because it was a crime scene.

Meanwhile, the institute staff called the Russian Guard. First, the National Guard arrives in full combat readiness, and a little later the police arrive. I wrote a statement about the theft and retention of my things, and in the evening of the same day I posted photos with the National Guard on my Facebook page.

- Do you regret that this is how it all turned out?

- No. Because on the day I received my diploma, Vitaly Mansky came to me and filmed for his program “Present Tense.” One of my favorite directors wrote a review of my film and filmed me with his own hand. It was worth it.

— What would you tell the freshmen?

“Resist more, obey less,” Walt Whitman wrote in 1860. So that they fight for their films, for themselves.

— When will everyone be able to watch your film?

— I think that by the end of the year of the theater and the centenary of VGIK it will be possible to see it.