MWFF 2015 SOUL OF A SPY - Press Conference

The Soul of a Spy Press Conference
August 29, 2015

The Montreal World Film Festival organizes Press Conferences for films that are in the World Competition. DUSHA SHPIONA / THE SOUL OF A SPY had two representatives from the film's production team attending the festival. Both were present at the press conference to answer questions from the journalists and the general audience. They were the film's director Vladimir Bortko, and the film's cinematographer, the director of the photography Elena Ivanova.

Vladimir Bortko does not only direct films, he is also a representative of the Russian government, a member of the Russian State Duma, which is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia (legislature). When I asked him whether it was hard to combine those two responsibilities, his simple answer was, "Yes, it us difficult." 

Botko has a very personal approach to his cinematographic work. He stated it was not something outside of him but came from within himself, from his own inner quest of searching for what was right or wrong to do in his own life or in his parliamentary duties. Each time he is involved in supporting or working on a new legislation, he always asks himself what if the opposition that does not want that particular bill to be passed is correct? It then becomes a decision based on his firm understanding as to what would truly benefit Russia - his Fatherland, called in Russian the Motherland. 

It was remarked at the conference that each location portrayed in the film had its own special and very specific atmosphere. Vladimir Bortko gave a full credit for that to the director of the cinematography Elena Ivanova with whom he later posed next to the official poster of his film.

Vladimir Bortko has a very poetic approach to the selection of the actors. He said that a musician had a musical instrument for his artistic expression. The sound of the Stradivarius violin is very different from the violin bought at a regular music store.  In the same way, a movie director searches for a Stradivarius type of actors for his film. He said it was not difficult to secure the internationality known actors like Malcolm McDowell or Sandrine Bonnaire. He sent them the script, they read it, liked it, stated the price that they estimated to be fare for their participation in the film, and he accepted it. He remarked that the remuneration they stipulated was lower than what the Russian actors would have asked.

The discussion with the journalists continued even after the press conference ended, in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency hotel which is one of the festival's sponsors.

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© 2015 Nadia Slejskova