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KW: Madame Serreau, having worked on this project for three years, how did you end up in Ukraine? What does our country mean to you?
C.S.: I know almost nothing about Ukraine. I took interest in Semen Antonets and his unique experience. I met him through an organization of ecologists. I suspect that Ukrainian land is being seriously degraded as the majority of farms use chemicals to cultivate it. What’s important is that there is a person that is ready to resist this. People must know this is happening not only elsewhere but here in Ukraine, too. Perhaps the problem of purity and quality of produce is currently not Ukraine’s main concern. Many small-time farmers and villagers often just do not have money to buy pesticides. So quality still can be found in Ukraine, but the situation here is deteriorating like anywhere else. Villagers are being driven off the land and are forced to move to the suburbs where they cannot find work. Chemicals are contamination the land and cases of people contracting cancer are on the rise. But seeing as the same companies that produce pesticides and fertilizers manufacture medicines against cancer, they are totally OK with this situation.
KW: You are not talking simply about ecology but about the fight against globalization...
C.S.: Yes. Indeed, this is an evil system through which land, women and third world countries are exploited...
KW: What filmmakers can do to break this system?
C.S.: I clearly cannot change the world order on my own. People, rural folks can reverse the tide. Today, there are people that are building a new society. There aren’t many of them, but it has to start somewhere. After all, a small seed will one day grow into a tall tree.
KW: You speak about this as if it were a new religion.
C.S.: No, no, no. I am not a religious person and am not engaged in matters of God. This is a new order of society that people don’t know about, but it must be devised. This has no relation to metaphysics whatsoever. You are absolutely right. This is a different view of the world, but the issue here is do we want to fall ill and steal the bread from the hungry?
KW: Why did you decide to dedicate your time to making documentaries after so many years in feature films?
C.S.: I started as a documentary director. My first film was a documentary. While this is a different form of work, there is not much of a difference between the two types of films. First and foremost, this is a letter, a specific language, a word that we want to convey to viewers.
KW: Have you noticed new topics and new approaches in the contemporary documentary films?
C.S.: Many films are being produced that stand up for certain ideas and I believe this is testimony to an upsurge in social movements in society. But when you go to Cannes, which is considered the official showcase for documentary films, you will not see anything of the kind. That is why it is called official showcase (laughing). Films that tell about absolutely nothing and do not raise the issue of opposition to the system are typical for Cannes. They tell about something understandable, for example somebody’s drama of love, an existence like my own. It’s all I, Me, Mine (laughing). People like that kind of stuff and the market demands it. The market wants you to become a consumption king. An entire generation of autistic people has grown up, kings of consumption. They live a tough life because they are estranged from reality, but they are being convinced that they truly are the kings.
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KW: If there is a market for documentary films, there must be a formula of success for them...
C.S.: I never sought some kind of formula. I am trying to do what I believe in and what is important and fair. If it sells, all the better. But if you do not try and create something that will thrill people and just want to impress them by your personality, then you won’t achieve a thing.
KW: Is there such a thing as a woman’s touch and style in filmmaking?
C.S.: This question always bothers me. I am a cinematographer. Women probably have a better view on the world, because they feel what men do not. I guess women are in the epicenter of societal changes and have a sharper outlook. But I don’t think there is a difference in the creative accent of men and women. An artist is an artist.
KW: Today, there are two pronounced trends in the film industry. On the one hand, genre movies replete with a typical plot that has a happy ending. On the other hand, there is alternative film that draws a mostly pessimistic picture of the world. Do you not think that there is another niche in the industry?
C.S.: I have always been a proponent of this third position. I make such films. They became popular because they were detachable and transcended the bounds of the system.
KW: So, it turns out you are a revolutionary.
C.S.: Yes, sure!
KW: This is likely the reason you no longer shoot comedy films...
C.S.: I never tried to write or produce a comedy. I wrote screenplays that simply turned out to be funny. In general, if a comedy does not have a profound message, it’s useless. Classic comedians always had something to say to the audience. I think this is the most difficult for a professional filmmaker. It is easy to make boring, slow and depressive films. But making a film that has something essential to say and is not vulgar is very difficult...
KW: What kind of films do you get inspiration from?
C.S.: Indian films is something extraordinary. There is something fairy-tale like and philosophical about them. At the same time, their language is very universal. I think Indians have a cosmic vision of art. This was precisely the strong side of Andriy Tarkovskiy. Films shot in the west depict ruination and egos, which are essentially one and the same thing.
KW: One can only guess how your next film will turn out...
C.S.: I want to create something along the lines of a great epic embellished by costumes and filled with love and adventure. Events will be set in 18th century France, Germany and Italy. The main heroin will be a singer...
KW: Will this be a screen version of Consuelo by Georges Sands?
C.S.: You know Consuelo!? In France you won’t find anybody who knows this novel. Nobody! This is one of the best novels of French literature. Your country obviously has a very high level of culture! I recall when I first came to the USSR to shoot a story. We were on the Moscow-Leningrad train. Two ladies were sitting next to me. One had chickens in a basket, the other one treated me to some fresh homemade sour cream and the complete opera Carmen was blaring out of the speakers. It was magic! Don’t you think such a Soviet practice is simply wondrous?
KW: If it’s only Carmen on the radio, I do not think so ...
C.S.: So, what does your young generation like to listen to nowadays?
KW: One can take an MP3 player and listen to just about anything...
C.S.: ...and become autistics that live in a herd. They think they are free and independent, but in truth they live like everyone else.
KW: But not all people live to be rebels.
C.S.: Of course not, but in certain moments of life they can!
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