FIPADOC 2020: Immortal | Interview of Ksenia Okhapkina
How is it being a female documentary filmmaker in Russia? We were lucky enough to ask director Ksenia Okhapkina this question, among others, at the 2020 FIPADOC.
Ksenia Okhapkina was in Biarritz, France, at the end of January 2020 to showcase her latest documentary called ‘Immortal’ as part of the international competition of the FIPADOC International Documentary Film Festival, a few months after obtaining the prestigious Best Documentary Award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in Czech Republic.
How do the mechanisms of political power directly influence the lives of a country’s inhabitants? In seeking an answer to this difficult question, ‘Immortal’, a poetic cinematic essay, looks at everyday life in a small Russian industrial city, uncovering along the way how dangerous and furtive an all-permeating ideology can be.
And as you may have understood, we had the chance of having an insightful conversation with director Ksenia Okhapkina, which you can watch below:
Questions:
00:45 Introduction of Ksenia Okhapkina
01:05 Introduction of ‘Immortal’
02:03 What is ‘Immortal’ about?
02:52 How did you get into documentary filmmaking?
05:03 How important is it for you to give a poetic aspect to your films?
11:00 What have you learnt about yourself while making this film?
15:05 How is it to be a woman in the film industry? Especially in Russia?
19:47 So from what you say, in Russia, women are “super women”?
22:15 How important is the fight for gender equality in Russia?
23:42 What would be your best piece of advice for aspiring documentary filmmakers?
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Acknowledgments: FIPADOC, Constance Colonna-Cesari and Auriane Loizeau
