Ivan I. Tverdovsky prepares for the movie about the tragedy on Dubrovka

The film director Ivan I. Tverdovsky, the triumphant of a festival in Karlovy Vary and the double winner of an online festival of Rossiyskaya Gazeta («Remedial class», «Podbrosy»), prepares for work on the movie «Conference» at the heart of which — the tragedy by the victims of terrorist attack on Dubrovka. For the first time he reported about it in TV program of OTR channel devoted to the «Double Dv@» festival. I could not but seize the opportunity to ask the young master on his project.

— It seems to me, the idea to shoot the film about the greatest tragedy endured by Russia in a new century not just ripened, but also became overripe: there is so much tremendous evidence of human firmness and amazing destinies that it is unclear why none of cinematographers became interested in a subject. It can have a set of foreshortenings — what was chosen by you?

Ivan Tverdovsky: Passed 17 years — a serious distance of time. And long ago it is time to comprehend this tragedy in purely human plan. When it happened, I was a school student, but among my companions was died in terrorist attack, he studied in a parallel class, and all of us were strongly beaten by it. And then I had very many acquaintances, with this tragedy anyway of connected. Thinking of the movie, I looked for a certain optics which would allow to see the incident from positions of today. Concrete, very personal history which develops against the background of the tragedy was necessary. We found such history of the real woman, and I wrote the scenario.

— How did I understand, you are interested in terrorist attack consequences more, than he?

Ivan Tverdovsky: I do not take political aspect of the incident, motives of terrorists at all or how the special troops acted. Two young women managed to escape, having jumped out of a toilet window,— it was purely instinctive act. And our heroine with horror understood that there is no way back any more, and there, in the hall, there was her family: husband, son and daughter. The son perishes, the family falls. Shaken by loss, it became nuns, but once, on blessing of the prior, returned to Moscow to carry out a memorial evening of the victims of terrorist attack: it realizes it as the Christian mission. And all movie is constructed as stories by those who survived, step by step restoring the course of these terrible events: that they felt what were afraid of how they coped with it…

— And it is necessary to remind of it? Unless the country is not hurt by this wound still?

Ivan Tverdovsky: It is necessary: for today's school students Dubrovka — something from ancient history. And as it was — they do not know any more: nobody tells them.

— These stories in the movie will be realized into a series of flashbacks?

Ivan Tverdovsky: Not absolutely flashbacks. It is important to me to find very correct approach to tell about the incident through personal stories. To use documentary memoirs which there is a lot of and they shake. To make the movie on border between documentary and art. And all this will be united by history of the main character and her broken-off family. Attempt to find justification to itself, to pray for forgiveness of the act and to deserve forgiveness of relatives.

— Will you shoot the film in Theatre on Dubrovka?

Ivan Tverdovsky: Recently I came to look there what there occurs today. And there the Circus of the dancing fountains works, parents bring children, and already nothing reminds of the tragedy. There is a plaque, there is a temple, and in the building nothing changed — only the renovation is made. But the audience (I asked them) any more almost know nothing about terrorist attack — heard something like that about some old events, no more. And visitors do not know at all what the place is. Though it is the most terrible tragedy in Moscow for all its contemporary history.

— In this story there is a tragic counterpoint, important for cinema: the vital, joyful musical — and terror, violence, death of people.

Ivan Tverdovsky: In any of stories about which I spoke a huge number of events concentrated, about everyone it is possible to shoot the separate film. This place collected some incredible volume of a grief which unites all of us, even the most indifferent. If we try to forget, not to notice, be fenced off from the history — we will have no future. It as in family as in any human relationship, grief unites.

— Who is included into your team?

Ivan Tverdovsky:Young producers Katerina Mikhaylova and Konstantin Fam work with me in team. We understand that we undertook very difficult material.

— Who will play the main character?

Ivan Tverdovsky: I sent the scenario to Anna Mikhalkova and very much I wait for the answer now. She is a great actress, and it seems to me, it is her role. In a picture there are a lot of characters, and it is the first case in my practice when roles of heroes of the second plan are not less important, than at the main character. Some of prototypes are already dead, but it is important to me to return to life of their history. And this hall in the movie has to accomodate both our actors, and people who there really were those days. Actors cannot be false in anything.

— When all this occurred, you were a school student. Did you manage to watch the musical «Nord-Ost» at least recorded?

Ivan Tverdovsky: Yes, of course. It is a performance which could define ways of development of the musical in our country. And we still did not realize the scale of this loss for the Russian theater… The musical, of course, will be one of participants of the movie, but the main action — these three days of the tragedy and its consequence.

— No cinema sets as the purpose just to frighten people of a reminder on the endured nightmare. About what will your movie there be?

Ivan Tverdovsky: That the person always remains a person — in any, most terrible vital circumstances. The agenda of world terrorism did not disappear anywhere, and we are not insured from anything. And to understand psychology of hostages that directed them then, than there lived those days their soul — it seems to me, very important. Not only for the memory of them, but also as a lesson on the future.

— At what stage is the movie?

Ivan Tverdovsky: There is a prepreparatory period, and we in search of support: the movie will be difficult, its budget cannot be small. We hope for support of the Ministry of Culture. It is the psychological drama which should not separate people, and to unite them — the general grief, common problems, the general energy of resistance to circumstances.

— Why the movie is called «Conference»?

Ivan Tverdovsky: It is also that memorial evening that will be organized by the heroine. A certain gathering of people who were united by one tragedy. But it has to be the modern history — for us and about us which live here and now: it we, today's, remember events of seventeen-year prescription. It is important to transfer that invoice and that atmosphere, but to transfer these feelings to screens of our days. It is not the movie reconstruction. It not about terrorists and not how there was a release of hostages. It about mother who deserted the family at the terrible moment: she managed to escape, повинуясь to a self-preservation instinct, but memories of the son left on death, sense of guilt — will torment her all life.

«Rossiyskaya Gazeta»