Fragile Memory (2022) Movie Script
Tell me: how did you get
into this profession?
Oh!
Its such a long story.
At first,
I wanted to go to
the Maritime Academy.
Obviously - Odessa.
At least I thought
this would be my path.
However, my older
brother Arcadii
He was really fond
of photography
and naturally he also involved
me in this worthwhile activity.
In Odessa, where my grandad -
cinematographer Leonid Burlaka - was born
cinema appeared two years
before the Lumieres.
Motion picture inventor Iosip
Timchenko used to live here
However, he didn't manage
to patent his invention.
The first film studios were set
here at the beginning of XX century.
They produced comedies
and melodramas.
There were even local
movie stars in Odessa.
The Bolsheviks seized all the
private business in Odessa
and united studios into the
1st Ukrainian Film Factory.
Cinema was the top
priority back then
New government saw it
as a propaganda tool
Even closed churches and synagogues
got transformed into cinemas.
Such cult films like
"Battleship Potemkin"
and "Man with a Movie Camera"
were shot then in Odessa
Back then Odessa Film Studio
films were very popular
but now it's all in the past.
Igor!
Hi!
I'm here!
My grandpa shot this video.
It's me and my mom
n the set of one
of his last films.
Well done! Now walk that way.
Along the fence, to the head.
Let's walk to the crane,
let's see what it is. Okay?
- Everythings rady here?
- Yes
Now you see how a crane looks, got it?
- Yes
He says, "A crane, but it doesn't
have a hook! Not a construction crane"
Okay, mate, turn me
to the fence now.
Grandpa was a superhero
of my childhood.
He could make anything
with his own hands.
He showed us some magic tricks.
We spent a lot of time
at their summer house.
It was built as long
as I remember myself.
There he taught us tons
of interesting things.
For example, how to row a boat
or how to fix things,
or make a firecracker out
of a bullet cartridge.
Also, he showed us
how to stop time.
It seemed that he knew so
much and could do everything
because he worked in
the film industry.
It's because of him I decided to
become a cinematographer myself.
Right at the nose...
Someone should always film.
You used to shoot us when we
were kids. Now its our turn.
Where's the tea, grandpa?
- What did you...?
- Where's the tea?
- I don't get it...
- The tea. Where is it?
Where's the tea..?
Whats wrong with me?
The tea must be here,
this must be it.
English Breakfast. Ahmad Tea.
This is certainly it. Yes.
The tea? Well, yes.
- Okay, we put it here.
- Okay.
What did we want
to take from here?
We need to find a lawnmower.
- A lawnmower?
- Yes.
I forgot what it looks like.
Have you found the lawnmower?
No, we're still looking.
I can't see it yet.
- What do you want to find here?
- The lawnmower.
- The lawnmower?
- Yes.
I forgot what it even looks
like, not to mention where it is.
The lawnmower. How does it look?
It's kind of grey. I
don't remember it either.
Maybe it's not here but
in the wooden garage?
The lawnmower. What does it do?
It trims grass.
- Grass?
- Yes.
Damn it, I can't
remember anything.
Like a nightmare.
We'll find it. I think it
was in that wooden garage...
- Be careful.
- Yeah.
- I'm taking this jar, right?
- Yes, take one.
Grandpa, as I had known him
before, started fading away.
He started to lose memory.
In the garage, amidst piles
of junk that nobody needed
but was sorry to throw away,
I found a plastic bag
with very old photo films.
They were in a very
poor condition.
The emulsion was literally
falling off them.
I scanned them carefully
For the first time I
saw grandpa so young.
It must be the early 1960s,
when grandpa studied in VGIK,
the main Soviet film school.
In these pictures, he
is as old as I am now.
Do you need glasses?
- For me? - Yes.
- Okay then.
When we were at the summer
house, while making the roof...
- Yes.
- Do you remember, grandpa?
When we were making the
roof for our summer house.
I found a bag in the garage.
With the film rolls.
- Yes, yes.
- Black-and-white film rolls.
I have no idea how they got
there but they were in a very...
There were about ten
rolls of film in the bag.
But the strange thing was that
something was poured all over them,
so the emulsion got melted.
- Wait..
- What a beauty.
Wait. Maybe it was
grandpas experiment...
Do you remember, you had a
picture with melted emulsion?
- I remember.
- Maybe, you did it on purpose.
- No, probably not.
- With those cosmic landscapes?
Well, not really.
They must've been
damaged accidentally.
Of course, it was
certainly an accident.
I took them to Kyiv without
asking, scanned them, and...
- What's there?
- I'll show you now.
- You'll show them?
- I will.
Good.
These things are always interesting
because they are unexpected.
- Wow!
- Mamma mia.
And for scrolling up or
down, use these two keys.
To go one image back?
Yes, here. That's how
you scroll and look.
Where is it?
Vadim...
Where are those columns?
- Is it Vadim Avloshenko?
- Yes.
- Is it really Vadim Avloshenko?
- That's him.
- Who is she then?
- It's you.
- Me?
- Yes.
Who else can it be?
Well, I was thinking the
same. Who else can that be?
Monica Vitti.
Ah, yes.
- And this is you.
- Its me.
Oh God.
- Wonderful...
- It is.
- It's spring, you see?
- Yeah.
Might be at the Greek Park, that
is under reconstruction now.
What are those things?
Ah, so you used to smoke?
I thought it was just for fun.
And here you are
with a pipe again.
How come?
Beautiful. This
looks like open jaws.
After so many years, your
secrets are revealed.
And where is this?
Look, a fence.
A primitive one.
And these handsome ones...
And you're looking at
them with such a surprise.
Look, Lyonya, how much
strength was in you.
Look at your arms, the
shoulders you had...
Well, what do you want?
- You looked so nice, Lyonya!
Oh, come on.
I want you to be like that now.
So do I.
This is a good shot too.
God, was that infrared?
Yes, most likely, it's an infra
film. You see, everything is white.
- Beautiful leaves.
- That's what I thought too.
For me, grandpa's
archive is the only way
to see everyday
life 50 years ago.
All I've seen before were
the newsreels like these
featuring the big political
events from the 60's
The Space Race
The Virgin Lands campaign
or Fidel Castro
playing with snowballs
when the world was on
the brink of nuclear war.
At that time my
grandad was a student
Today it is hard to
imagine how it feels like
to ride around Moscow
in such a cabrio.
While only 4 people out of
1000 had a car in the USSR.
Only high-ranking officials or
cameramen who were filming them
could ride in these cabrios.
So, whats up?
Its cold.
The process of tire grinding?
- Grinding?
- Yes.
Wear out?
W-e-a-r o-u-t. Yes.
The Ossetian writer
Dot-dot-dot Khetagurov.
Kosta.
You've seen these, right?
Who's this?
Is it Mark? The
director of the film?
Who is Mark? What's his full name?
- Yes, it's Mark, right.
Who's he? Which film?
Huh?
Can I ask you something?
Can I ask you something?
- Ask what?
- Give me a second.
Here, try to put this on.
Do you know how to use it?
- It's an amplifier, isn't it?
- Yes.
Well, I know.
Do you know how to turn it on?
I don't know how to turn it on.
What?
- It's squeaking.
- Squeaking?
- Yes.
Not anymore.
Damn, why is it...?
One.
One, one.
One, one.
Well, that's how it hangs.
This side up.
You don't have to wear it all
the time, only sometimes. Try it.
Hell with it. Can't
I do without it?
Sometimes, I say something,
and you may not hear it.
It's alright, you can repeat it.
- Do I need to insert it into my ear?
- Yes.
Any better?
- I don't know. Seems good.
- I can hear you well.
- Alright then.
- So what?
- That's it.
I just wanted to ask about
that. Can you hear me well now?
One-two-three.
- Very good.
- You can hear it well, right?
Cool. Thats the
key to scroll down.
Well, this is
Mark. The director.
The director of which
film? Which one was it?
I cannot remember.
It's not the one about cranes?
Maybe.
Maybe.
It might be 'The
Life of Cranes'.
I was filming it back then.
Was it your student film?
- Yes, sort of.
Yes. It must be 'The
Life of Cranes'.
Where did you film it?
I don't remember.
I mean, in Moscow or here?
Well, I guess, of course...
So was it in Moscow or here?
Here we are, together with Mark.
Where was it? When was it?
Mark with his pipe.
I'm lying on the top.
What could I shoot so close
up? It's wide angle, isn't it?
- The lens?
- Yes.
- It is.
- 18 mm?
- Looks like it. A very big lens.
- Yes, must be 18 mm.
Which port was it?
A seaport. Which one was
it? Give me a second.
Illichivsk?
No.
I cannot recall,
Igor. I just cant.
But it was a seaport,
right? Not a river one.
Nice shirt.
Same as grandpa's memories,
most of these film frames
are faded and distorted.
I don't even know how many of
these shots are lost forever.
However, since
these are negatives,
there must be prints somewhere.
Maybe his friends had them.
This is mind-blowing.
Look at that.
What a beautiful
dissolution. Yeah...
You can pick random fragments
and create whatever you want.
How does this happen?
How can I scroll forward?
Press the down key.
- This one?
- Yes.
Such clarity. It's mind-blowing.
Look, especially here.
Hah! Pan - Bargieowski.
Tell me about him. Who was he?
- A director.
I worked with him.
Bargieowski!
Did you study together?
- What are you saying?
- Did you study together with him?
Well, we were in the same year.
He majored in film directing.
And I studied cinematography.
We had a collaboration.
The directors and cinematographers
used to find working partners
among their fellow students.
Thats how we stuck together.
And we used to spend
so much time together.
Unfortunately, his friends from
the film school have passed away.
However, I managed to find
Bargieowski's daughter, Idalia
She lives with her
husband in Warsaw.
Yes, with dad.
And he was smoking
too. Look, so reckless.
Dad always tried to bring
the Western world closer,
to show it to his
friends in Moscow.
I remember he said they had an abstract
painting hidden behind a wardrobe.
Because at the time in Russia
you could go to prison for that.
So people showed it to each other only if
they were sure that no one else could see.
'Quiet, I'll show
you something.'
Abstract art. Can you imagine
this? Those were the times.
Idalia, do you know
anything about the movies
that they shot in
VGIK film school?
I know that he shot a short
'Sketch in White', for example.
But where are those movies?
Probably, they belong to VGIK.
It isn't Moscow. Probably,
somewhere in Poland.
No.
Look, it says,
"Moscow, summer, 1964."
- And here's grandpa!
- Yes, there you go.
- And here is the whole letter?
- This is dad's letter, yes.
Here, dad writes
it is very difficult for him not
to talk about him staying in Russia
and that it is scary, he just
says, "I can't stand it anymore"!
"I'm drowning. I am humiliated.
For the first time, I
lose the mask of calmness,
so courageously worked
out by the Moscow order.
Im afraid of making
irreversible movements.
Im holding tight.
I despise them so terribly.
I hate them so much. I
hate them with all my soul.
The only reason why I
don't spit in their faces,
on all this scam
called revolution is
To be honest, I don't know why.
The witch-hunting began here.
The people of art are
the victims of fear.
They are afraid of
their own shadow.
Nobody knows where the thunder
comes from the next time.
Who will be compromised next?
Grandpa, listen...
when you studied in
VGIK, did it happen often
that someone's script was
not allowed to be filmed
because it was ideologically
inappropriate? Was it common?
Well, I don't remember now.
But it was quite possible.
It's terrible.
It was in line, you know,
with our stupid prohibitions.
It could happen, yes.
There were cases when
it was simply forbidden
for a student
to shoot something
that he wanted to.
And could they forbid
you to shoot something?
When you were working with
someone, did it happen to you?
- To me?
- Yes.
Yes, I just don't
remember with whom.
But something like
this happened.
But it was not with
Bargieowski, with someone else?
Now, I don't remember exactly
whether it was with him or not.
It's a nightmare, there's
no such things now.
Right.
- It sounds so insane.
It was unpleasant,
but what could we do?
It was like that. It was normal.
In our country.
There are about 600 film distribution
organizations in our country.
They supply films to
over 230 000 cinemas.
A 'Movies' truck used to come
even to the most remote villages.
Tickets were cheap and
theatres were everywhere.
Almost all films in cinemas
were made in the USSR.
To provide all the Soviet
screens with content,
there were more than 30 film studios
producting fiction and documentary films.
One of them was the
Odessa Film Studio
that employed my grandpa after
his graduation from the VGIK.
All the Soviet films
have one trait.
Sometimes only briefly, but inevitably
they mention communist ideology
the struggle against the
enemies of the revolution
and the achievements
of the Soviet rule.
Since 1965, a new
topic appeared.
The victory of the
USSR over Germany.
My grandpa's first feature
film, 'Faithfulness',
was dedicated to
the military topic.
He shot it together with two
other cinematographers...
Vadym Avloshenko and
Vadym Kostromenko.
Hitler is a son of a bitch.
Were marching here
because of him.
When you were filming 'Faithfulness',
how did you divide who shot what?
I don't remember now.
Why would they divide?
- Well, I don't know.
I just wonder how it works when you
have a few cinematographers on set.
I found just a few
words about the film.
About the shooting
process and so on.
You shot in Saratov, right?
- Yes, we were in Saratov.
- There was the young actress Galya Polskikh.
Yes, we were there.
And why there?
There was a military
academy, probably.
A military academy?
They could use the
students. A cheap solution.
The training yard, the barracks.
There were many interiors
they didn't have to build.
Company!
The enemy is on our left!
Hurray!
It was the debut of Piotr
Todorovsky as a director
and Bulat Okudzhava as a screenwriter
and for the cinematographers.
The film was a good career
start for all its authors.
In 1965, it was screened at
the Venice Film Festival.
Incidentally, The Studio allowed the production to start
only after this specific scene was added to the script.
As a citizen of the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics.
I join the ranks
of the Red Army,
take the oath and solemnly
swear to be an honest,
brave, disciplined,
vigilant fighter.
I swear to strictly keep
military and state secrets.
I swear to study military
affairs in good faith.
Right before the
festival screening,
Todorovsky cut out this scene
and threw it into the canal.
The film won Best Debut award,
and Burlaka began working as
a director of photography.
After 'Faithfulness', grandpa
made one film per year.
Almost all of them were related
to the Soviet-German war.
It seems that for 20 years the
Soviets avoided mentioning the war
as it was a great mistake
that cost millions of lives.
No celebrations were held
Wounded veterans were
placed out of the big cities
The ending of war
was not celebrated.
Just starting from 1965
the 9th of May became a new
Soviet holiday, a Victory Day.
The scale of its celebration
was increasing year by year.
They started holding
parades, building monuments,
and, of course, making movies.
The army was involved in the production process
providing any equipment and soldiers as extras.
That's how in 1971 grandpa made
together with Vadym Lysenko
one of the most expensive films of the Odessa
Film Studio, 'Train to Farewell August'.
Grandpa saw these
events as a child,
he stayed with his parents in Odessa
during the Romanian occupation.
I asked him about that time,
but the answer was "I
don't even want to recall."
"The hostility that is sown"?
H a gap T and
three more letters.
Hatred, it will be 6 letters.
"The hostility that is sown"?
Which photos do you need?
The ones taken before
the filmschool.
Before the film school?
Here they are -
before the filmschool.
Hm, Igor this is...
Whos that siting near him?
His camera assistant perhaps
Holy moly!
It's ok, no worries.
Did you manage to set
up one more camera?
- Yes, I did.
- It's okay then, never mind.
[ODESSA FILM STUDIO]
Where did they get the idea to
film something in Sanzhiika?
- Do you know?
- Yes, I do.
Actually, the filmscript of 'The Prosecutor
Gives Testimony wasnt very interesting.
And the shooting did't
imply such a scale.
Yet Leonid Burlaka is a
creative person. He's a seeker.
He kind of brought unusual
photography into the film.
Such an interesting
approach to filming.
Even in the beginning, when the actress
runs along the shore and the camera flies.
He brought these poetic
elements into the movie.
And it livened up the
film. Immediately.
But actually...
There were mostly
interiors at first.
And then, during the shooting,
they tried to come outside
as much as possible.
He seemed to be self-contained.
He wasn't an
extrovert back then.
He kept his distance.
On the cutting board.
- What do you want me to cut?
- The cabbage stalk.
- All around? This one?
- Yes, yes.
- But it will fall apart.
- No, it wont.
- This way?
- Yes.
Maybe you should begin
from the side? This one.
Oh, come on.
- Now youll chop the stalk.
- Easy, Im not there yet.
Open it, guys.
[The Meeting Place
Cannot Be Changed]
In 1979 the most famous film
shot by my grandpa was released
'The Meeting Place
Cannot Be Changed'.
It was a TV-miniseries
that he shot together
with a director
Stanislav Govorukhin.
Show your documents, comrades.
Our documents are fine.
Toporkov is heavily wounded.
Luckily, Soloviov is still alive,
but I don't know much more.
It was a new format for
the Soviet audience.
The leading role was
performed by an extremely
popular actor and singer
Vladimir Vysotsky.
Damn you, bastard.
You betrayed all of
us: those who survived
and those who died but werent
afraid of the criminal bullet.
The script was quite
unusual for the USSR.
It's a criminal drama
with a star cast.
It shows complicated moral dilemmas
and multidimensional characters.
The film became a massive hit.
Most of the people who were born in
the USSR have seen it multiple times.
There are even statues of the
main characters in some cities.
Theres a lot of behind the scenes
photos from this film on the Internet.
The cameraman is visible
there mostly from his back
If you can see him at all.
I was trying to find
behind the scenes footage.
The film archives have catalogues
that describe each stored shot.
By the tags 'Film
shoots', 'Odessa',
I found the 'Soviet Ukraine'
newsreel from May 1979,
There was footage of
the Odessa Film Studio.
It documents the
production process
and directors who
worked with my grandpa.
There was also the backstage
of 'The Meeting Place...
including this one...
PAN: The panoramic
shot of the cameraman.
In fact, this is the only known chronicle
footage with my grandpa behind the camera.
Two seconds.
48 frames.
It shows that grandpa,
unlike the others,
used to look into the
camera with his left eye.
It was his habit.
Taste it, Igor.
I finally managed to persuade grandpa
to see a doctor to check his eye.
It isn't good.
Nothing can be
done at this stage,
the process is irreversible.
And now the eye is blind.
Yep.
How do you feel now?
- Can you watch TV?
- With one eye.
Pardon?
- But can you watch TV like that?
- Well, it's okay.
- With one eye. This one is blind.
This is his left eye, he used
to look into the camera with it.
He has been using it
intensely all his life.
As soon as the eye hemorrhage happened,
we should have acted right away.
"Oh, it's nothing",
that's what he said.
And now it's a trouble.
Yeah.
I just brought a film for
you to watch, a new one.
This year's Oscar winner
for the best cinematography.
- Really?
- For you to watch, yes.
- Okay, we'll watch.
- That's why I'm asking...
No, he is watching TV, he reads
books to our granddaughter.
Film cameras used to have
very dim viewfinders.
This was especially inconvenient
when shooting daytime exteriors.
It took a lot of effort to adjust
focus and keep track of the image.
Photo cameras had
the same problem
and grandpa photographed a lot.
He didn't keep a diary.
But nearly all his life can be
traced through his photo archive.
A half century in
450 film rolls.
More than 15,000 shots.
Here is his family,
friends, travels,
holidays, shoots,
location scouting.
But, more importantly,
his daughters.
Their eldest - my mom Olga.
And the youngest, Nastia.
It seems to me that these photographs are
much more valuable to him than his movies.
The private photographs back then
weren't meant to be shown to everyone.
On the contrary, to keep something
valuable just for yourself.
Something truly yours.
Sit down here..
- Pardon?
- Sit down, have a look.
- Do you want some?
- Whats that?
- A pancake.
- Cool.
Those photos that I found
in the summer house,
those damaged films
I showed them to my friends
who work at the gallery.
They curate this gallery.
And they offered me to
exhibit those pictures.
- Really?
- Yes.
Well, I have been thinking...
To put it short, those photos of
yours, from the damaged negatives,
they want to exhibit
them in the gallery.
What do you think?
So...
What do you want from me?
Im asking you: what do
you think about this idea?
Remind me please.
I dont get it.
Do you remember the negatives
from our summer house?
Yes, I do.
- The ones with melted and damaged emulsion.
I showed them to
my acquaintances.
They run this gallery
that Im showing you.
They run what?
This is their gallery.
- Oh, the gallery?
- Its in Kyiv, in downtown.
They offered to exhibit
your photos there.
To make an exhibition.
- So what do I do?
- I dont know.
- Maybe, you should come to the opening.
- I need to come?
Well, if you want to.
- Where is it again?
- In Kyiv.
Oh, Igor
Its fast now. Theres
a high speed train.
No, my dear.
There will be an
opening, a sort of event.
No, perhaps its not
an option anymore.
You think so?
No, my dear.
Okay, think it over.
We have plenty of time.
Its in one month.
So think it over.
Ill think it over.
I just shot this as a sketch.
We talked over the
placement with them.
I want to print some
pictures in a large size.
- So it will be there?
- Yes, this is the place.
Here you go.
So. Is it okay?
Grandma, are the
garbage bins far away?
- What?
- Are the garbage bins far?
Somewhere behind the garages.
I believe, he'll figure it out.
Usually, when I ask
him to get some water
I also ask to take
the trash out.
There's a garbage bin at
the end of the building.
I have to explain a
thousand times how to...
walk along the building,
how to find the garbage bin.
Well, you know,
I think it's also hard
for him, actually.
Why?
He kind of knows that there's
something off with him.
He's coming.
Of course, he knows.
But he can do nothing about it.
That's the most horrible feature
of his state that he knows it all.
Grandpa was one of those few Soviet
citizens who could travel abroad.
Sadly, he always traveled abroad
by himself, never with grandma.
At the time, the couples were
not allowed to travel together.
Just in case, so they
wouldn't escape to the West.
What was he thinking about at the airports
when other countries were so close?
Had he ever thought about
running away to the West?
Probably not.
The 1970s and 1980s were a
good time for them in Odessa,
both personally
and professionally.
The Studio produced up
to 16 movies per year
The studio provided my grandparents with
the flat and a place for a summer house.
Land in a field near a lake.
Everything on this plot is
made by grandpa's hands.
Everything is built
by him from scratch.
According to Soviet standards, he
had everything a man could dream of:
a car, a summer house
and a videoplayer.
In the late 80s, VHS
ame to the Soviet Union.
My grandpa could borrow
a camera from the Studio
to capture important events.
- Can we go?
- Yes!
For example, to film
my parents' wedding
or the opening of the first
film festival in Odesa in 1987.
It's hard to believe that all this
was happening in the Soviet Odessa.
Also he filmed
his travels abroad
We'll never catch up...
He filmed the displays
full of regular goods
that were hard to find in
USSR: shoes, groceries, TVs...
VHS was becoming more
and more popular.
Video rentals appeared with the movies
that could not be seen in cinemas.
The distribution revenues of the
Soviet films started dropping.
We turned on our camera
in October, 1990.
It's hard times.
The financial crisis, devaluation
of the Soviet currency.
The collapse of various
institutions and enterprises.
The destiny of the Odesa Film
Studio is also very uncertain.
Those who will watch
this film in the future
will know how it all ended up.
But we don't know anything yet.
In 1991, the Soviet
Union collapsed.
So, the Soviet film
production collapsed as well.
There were less and less films
made in the following years.
Many studio employees
lost their jobs
My grandpa got lucky.
He shot a few features
during the 1990s.
However, those were films
of a much smaller scale.
- Antonovych, were out of focus.
- Did you turn it on? No.
Its not working.
You need to press full.
See? Enough?
Yes, lets record it.
- Were finished?
- Yes. Its half past four.
Now grandad was
filming our childhood.
Keep it.
And jump.
- Grandpa, grandpa.
- He cant figure out that you are coming along.
- Lets go.
- Grandpa, grandpa.
Come on.
One!
Two!
And three! And on your own now.
Turn around and
cycle further on.
Stay still, don't turn around
See me, if you wish.
Well done, Igor!
- Arent you tired holding the camera in your hands?
- Im good.
- Is it recording?
- Yes!
Hold here... Take a wide
shot. Hold the level.
Hold here... Take a wide
shot. Hold the level.
Yeah.. Good, now press "Stop"
Grandpa's last film
was released in 1999.
Rolling. Scene 33, take 1.
It was a year of
significant film releases.
'The Matrix', 'Fight Club', 'Toy
Story 2', 'Star Wars, Episode 1'
and grandpas 'How a Blacksmith
Sought for Happiness'
Everything is mine!
It was a low-budget,
a very low-budget film.
Then we have a bluescreen shot..
And this one whack, whack,
whack! And thats it.
Most of grandpas
colleagues were pensioners.
This videotape is
marked as October 9th.
This is my grandpa's
birthday. Hes turning 60.
Open and pour!
We have to drink to a
wonderful and talented person!
May he live long and continue
bringing us joy
throught his art.
From the bottom of my soul
I wish him to be
healthy and truly happy.
And also his family,
children, grandchildren.
All the best wishes!
Honestly, some of the youth
will soon envy Leonid.
Because starting today,
he'll develop sclerosis.
Like in an anecdote...
Are you planning to come to
the Studio's 100th anniversary?
First of all, I don't know
whether we will be invited.
I think you'll be
invited for sure.
Not for sure at all.
Nobody congratulated grandpa
on his 80th birthday.
Neither the Odesa
Union of Filmmakers,
nor the National one.
No one! No letter, no
phone call, no message.
Given the fact that he turned
80 last year in October.
But no one did anything
on this occasion.
Of course, they remember
him at the Studio.
And they know that I'm
making a film about grandpa.
- Really?
- Sure. The Studio tries to help us.
At least, they don't
create obstacles.
The last 15 years the
Studio is stagnating.
Sometimes shoots are happening, but
mostly it is a service production.
The Studio is managed
by a private owner now
but its obvious that film
production is not their priority.
Because in the last 15 years
the Studio hasnt developed.
The films that are stored
here, at this damp warehouse,
were seen by millions of people.
Some of those took part in
international film festivals
and one of them was
nominated for an Oscar.
One more is stored here.
There are over 400
films stored here.
This is 'Forgive',
his next movie.
In a couple of years those
films might be lost forever.
And around 30 movies shot
by grandpa along with them.
These thujas used
to be small, right?
Yes.
They used to be small, so
you could see the delta.
And now they're tall,
with thick trunks.
Oh my, I'm so tired.
- Is it the heat?
- Yes.
And I have to manage it all.
"Leonid, get this
from the shed."
"But where's the shed?"
Here, the first door.
"Where? Where do I go?"
But do you understand that...
I do, but I'm just
telling you why Im tired.
Because I need to
go to the shed,
Get what I ask him to get
and take it back.
I do understand that it's
not going to get better.
But I pray to God that
it doesn't get worse.
- So, the bottom line is...
- I got it.
I pray it doesn't get worse.
So he would still remember that
he needs to use the toilet.
Here, I need to take
him to the toilet.
Sit down here.
Poor, poor thing.
I simply cannot come to terms with
the thought that he is like this now.
No, he can't hear us anyway.
He used to be so lively.
He never had problems
with any technical issues.
We're slowly scanning
your entire archive.
All the photo rolls
that you've shot.
We scan them so that we can
look at them on a computer.
And there are so many
pictures of Nastya.
Literally, she's on
every third film.
Nastya, the youngest daughter.
Many pictures of little Nastya.
Its strange but even more
than of Olya, my mother.
I can't remember, frankly.
But it's not the point.
I just got curious
about all that.
Why did she leave for good?
Why did it happen this way?
Tell me more, maybe
I'll remember.
Do you remember Nastya?
Nastya, the youngest daughter.
Well, not yet.
Alright, I'll show you
the pictures later.
Okay.
So beautiful.
These are also the
pictures from...
Wow, such a beauty.
These are also from your
film that I scanned.
And who's this?
- Well, it's Nastya.
- This is Nastya, right?
Such screams!
Wow. A severe face.
The lips...
are right in the middle.
Awesome shot.
I don't know how to
help my grandpa now.
It's impossible to
save his memory,
but at least his
legacy can be saved.
If we would linger a bit longer,
not only my granddad's films
but all films of Odessa Studio,
including films by Kira Muratova
Stanislav Govorukhin, Piotr Todorovsky
and many others can be lost forever
Not only because of
poor storage conditions,
but due to the danger that The Studio
itself can be demolished and redeveloped.
As has happened to most of the
former state-owned buildings around.
It took half a year of
negotiations to convince everyone
that the films need to be moved
to the proper film archive.
420 films in thousands of
boxes weighed nearly 6 tons.
Now the movies will be stored in
the National Film Archive in Kyiv.
It has all the conditions for storage,
restoration and digitalization.
There we've found out what
happened to granddads photo films
Turned out, damages
weren't made on purpose.
The structure of the
film itself was to blame.
In USSR the dangerous nitrate
film was in use up to mid-60's.
The emulsion dissolves on
it even at room temperature
and causes such
distortions to the images.
In 2018 we opened a first exhibition
of Leonid Burlakas photographs
Later on we showed
it in more cities.
In 2019 this exhibition
opened in Odessa.
Do you recognise
those? Your pictures.
Yes, I do.
- Do you recognise?
Its from the same film roll.
- Are you cold?
- No, not really.
FestiFilm...
It's a T-shirt from
the film festival.
Now the rain has stopped...
[THE END]
into this profession?
Oh!
Its such a long story.
At first,
I wanted to go to
the Maritime Academy.
Obviously - Odessa.
At least I thought
this would be my path.
However, my older
brother Arcadii
He was really fond
of photography
and naturally he also involved
me in this worthwhile activity.
In Odessa, where my grandad -
cinematographer Leonid Burlaka - was born
cinema appeared two years
before the Lumieres.
Motion picture inventor Iosip
Timchenko used to live here
However, he didn't manage
to patent his invention.
The first film studios were set
here at the beginning of XX century.
They produced comedies
and melodramas.
There were even local
movie stars in Odessa.
The Bolsheviks seized all the
private business in Odessa
and united studios into the
1st Ukrainian Film Factory.
Cinema was the top
priority back then
New government saw it
as a propaganda tool
Even closed churches and synagogues
got transformed into cinemas.
Such cult films like
"Battleship Potemkin"
and "Man with a Movie Camera"
were shot then in Odessa
Back then Odessa Film Studio
films were very popular
but now it's all in the past.
Igor!
Hi!
I'm here!
My grandpa shot this video.
It's me and my mom
n the set of one
of his last films.
Well done! Now walk that way.
Along the fence, to the head.
Let's walk to the crane,
let's see what it is. Okay?
- Everythings rady here?
- Yes
Now you see how a crane looks, got it?
- Yes
He says, "A crane, but it doesn't
have a hook! Not a construction crane"
Okay, mate, turn me
to the fence now.
Grandpa was a superhero
of my childhood.
He could make anything
with his own hands.
He showed us some magic tricks.
We spent a lot of time
at their summer house.
It was built as long
as I remember myself.
There he taught us tons
of interesting things.
For example, how to row a boat
or how to fix things,
or make a firecracker out
of a bullet cartridge.
Also, he showed us
how to stop time.
It seemed that he knew so
much and could do everything
because he worked in
the film industry.
It's because of him I decided to
become a cinematographer myself.
Right at the nose...
Someone should always film.
You used to shoot us when we
were kids. Now its our turn.
Where's the tea, grandpa?
- What did you...?
- Where's the tea?
- I don't get it...
- The tea. Where is it?
Where's the tea..?
Whats wrong with me?
The tea must be here,
this must be it.
English Breakfast. Ahmad Tea.
This is certainly it. Yes.
The tea? Well, yes.
- Okay, we put it here.
- Okay.
What did we want
to take from here?
We need to find a lawnmower.
- A lawnmower?
- Yes.
I forgot what it looks like.
Have you found the lawnmower?
No, we're still looking.
I can't see it yet.
- What do you want to find here?
- The lawnmower.
- The lawnmower?
- Yes.
I forgot what it even looks
like, not to mention where it is.
The lawnmower. How does it look?
It's kind of grey. I
don't remember it either.
Maybe it's not here but
in the wooden garage?
The lawnmower. What does it do?
It trims grass.
- Grass?
- Yes.
Damn it, I can't
remember anything.
Like a nightmare.
We'll find it. I think it
was in that wooden garage...
- Be careful.
- Yeah.
- I'm taking this jar, right?
- Yes, take one.
Grandpa, as I had known him
before, started fading away.
He started to lose memory.
In the garage, amidst piles
of junk that nobody needed
but was sorry to throw away,
I found a plastic bag
with very old photo films.
They were in a very
poor condition.
The emulsion was literally
falling off them.
I scanned them carefully
For the first time I
saw grandpa so young.
It must be the early 1960s,
when grandpa studied in VGIK,
the main Soviet film school.
In these pictures, he
is as old as I am now.
Do you need glasses?
- For me? - Yes.
- Okay then.
When we were at the summer
house, while making the roof...
- Yes.
- Do you remember, grandpa?
When we were making the
roof for our summer house.
I found a bag in the garage.
With the film rolls.
- Yes, yes.
- Black-and-white film rolls.
I have no idea how they got
there but they were in a very...
There were about ten
rolls of film in the bag.
But the strange thing was that
something was poured all over them,
so the emulsion got melted.
- Wait..
- What a beauty.
Wait. Maybe it was
grandpas experiment...
Do you remember, you had a
picture with melted emulsion?
- I remember.
- Maybe, you did it on purpose.
- No, probably not.
- With those cosmic landscapes?
Well, not really.
They must've been
damaged accidentally.
Of course, it was
certainly an accident.
I took them to Kyiv without
asking, scanned them, and...
- What's there?
- I'll show you now.
- You'll show them?
- I will.
Good.
These things are always interesting
because they are unexpected.
- Wow!
- Mamma mia.
And for scrolling up or
down, use these two keys.
To go one image back?
Yes, here. That's how
you scroll and look.
Where is it?
Vadim...
Where are those columns?
- Is it Vadim Avloshenko?
- Yes.
- Is it really Vadim Avloshenko?
- That's him.
- Who is she then?
- It's you.
- Me?
- Yes.
Who else can it be?
Well, I was thinking the
same. Who else can that be?
Monica Vitti.
Ah, yes.
- And this is you.
- Its me.
Oh God.
- Wonderful...
- It is.
- It's spring, you see?
- Yeah.
Might be at the Greek Park, that
is under reconstruction now.
What are those things?
Ah, so you used to smoke?
I thought it was just for fun.
And here you are
with a pipe again.
How come?
Beautiful. This
looks like open jaws.
After so many years, your
secrets are revealed.
And where is this?
Look, a fence.
A primitive one.
And these handsome ones...
And you're looking at
them with such a surprise.
Look, Lyonya, how much
strength was in you.
Look at your arms, the
shoulders you had...
Well, what do you want?
- You looked so nice, Lyonya!
Oh, come on.
I want you to be like that now.
So do I.
This is a good shot too.
God, was that infrared?
Yes, most likely, it's an infra
film. You see, everything is white.
- Beautiful leaves.
- That's what I thought too.
For me, grandpa's
archive is the only way
to see everyday
life 50 years ago.
All I've seen before were
the newsreels like these
featuring the big political
events from the 60's
The Space Race
The Virgin Lands campaign
or Fidel Castro
playing with snowballs
when the world was on
the brink of nuclear war.
At that time my
grandad was a student
Today it is hard to
imagine how it feels like
to ride around Moscow
in such a cabrio.
While only 4 people out of
1000 had a car in the USSR.
Only high-ranking officials or
cameramen who were filming them
could ride in these cabrios.
So, whats up?
Its cold.
The process of tire grinding?
- Grinding?
- Yes.
Wear out?
W-e-a-r o-u-t. Yes.
The Ossetian writer
Dot-dot-dot Khetagurov.
Kosta.
You've seen these, right?
Who's this?
Is it Mark? The
director of the film?
Who is Mark? What's his full name?
- Yes, it's Mark, right.
Who's he? Which film?
Huh?
Can I ask you something?
Can I ask you something?
- Ask what?
- Give me a second.
Here, try to put this on.
Do you know how to use it?
- It's an amplifier, isn't it?
- Yes.
Well, I know.
Do you know how to turn it on?
I don't know how to turn it on.
What?
- It's squeaking.
- Squeaking?
- Yes.
Not anymore.
Damn, why is it...?
One.
One, one.
One, one.
Well, that's how it hangs.
This side up.
You don't have to wear it all
the time, only sometimes. Try it.
Hell with it. Can't
I do without it?
Sometimes, I say something,
and you may not hear it.
It's alright, you can repeat it.
- Do I need to insert it into my ear?
- Yes.
Any better?
- I don't know. Seems good.
- I can hear you well.
- Alright then.
- So what?
- That's it.
I just wanted to ask about
that. Can you hear me well now?
One-two-three.
- Very good.
- You can hear it well, right?
Cool. Thats the
key to scroll down.
Well, this is
Mark. The director.
The director of which
film? Which one was it?
I cannot remember.
It's not the one about cranes?
Maybe.
Maybe.
It might be 'The
Life of Cranes'.
I was filming it back then.
Was it your student film?
- Yes, sort of.
Yes. It must be 'The
Life of Cranes'.
Where did you film it?
I don't remember.
I mean, in Moscow or here?
Well, I guess, of course...
So was it in Moscow or here?
Here we are, together with Mark.
Where was it? When was it?
Mark with his pipe.
I'm lying on the top.
What could I shoot so close
up? It's wide angle, isn't it?
- The lens?
- Yes.
- It is.
- 18 mm?
- Looks like it. A very big lens.
- Yes, must be 18 mm.
Which port was it?
A seaport. Which one was
it? Give me a second.
Illichivsk?
No.
I cannot recall,
Igor. I just cant.
But it was a seaport,
right? Not a river one.
Nice shirt.
Same as grandpa's memories,
most of these film frames
are faded and distorted.
I don't even know how many of
these shots are lost forever.
However, since
these are negatives,
there must be prints somewhere.
Maybe his friends had them.
This is mind-blowing.
Look at that.
What a beautiful
dissolution. Yeah...
You can pick random fragments
and create whatever you want.
How does this happen?
How can I scroll forward?
Press the down key.
- This one?
- Yes.
Such clarity. It's mind-blowing.
Look, especially here.
Hah! Pan - Bargieowski.
Tell me about him. Who was he?
- A director.
I worked with him.
Bargieowski!
Did you study together?
- What are you saying?
- Did you study together with him?
Well, we were in the same year.
He majored in film directing.
And I studied cinematography.
We had a collaboration.
The directors and cinematographers
used to find working partners
among their fellow students.
Thats how we stuck together.
And we used to spend
so much time together.
Unfortunately, his friends from
the film school have passed away.
However, I managed to find
Bargieowski's daughter, Idalia
She lives with her
husband in Warsaw.
Yes, with dad.
And he was smoking
too. Look, so reckless.
Dad always tried to bring
the Western world closer,
to show it to his
friends in Moscow.
I remember he said they had an abstract
painting hidden behind a wardrobe.
Because at the time in Russia
you could go to prison for that.
So people showed it to each other only if
they were sure that no one else could see.
'Quiet, I'll show
you something.'
Abstract art. Can you imagine
this? Those were the times.
Idalia, do you know
anything about the movies
that they shot in
VGIK film school?
I know that he shot a short
'Sketch in White', for example.
But where are those movies?
Probably, they belong to VGIK.
It isn't Moscow. Probably,
somewhere in Poland.
No.
Look, it says,
"Moscow, summer, 1964."
- And here's grandpa!
- Yes, there you go.
- And here is the whole letter?
- This is dad's letter, yes.
Here, dad writes
it is very difficult for him not
to talk about him staying in Russia
and that it is scary, he just
says, "I can't stand it anymore"!
"I'm drowning. I am humiliated.
For the first time, I
lose the mask of calmness,
so courageously worked
out by the Moscow order.
Im afraid of making
irreversible movements.
Im holding tight.
I despise them so terribly.
I hate them so much. I
hate them with all my soul.
The only reason why I
don't spit in their faces,
on all this scam
called revolution is
To be honest, I don't know why.
The witch-hunting began here.
The people of art are
the victims of fear.
They are afraid of
their own shadow.
Nobody knows where the thunder
comes from the next time.
Who will be compromised next?
Grandpa, listen...
when you studied in
VGIK, did it happen often
that someone's script was
not allowed to be filmed
because it was ideologically
inappropriate? Was it common?
Well, I don't remember now.
But it was quite possible.
It's terrible.
It was in line, you know,
with our stupid prohibitions.
It could happen, yes.
There were cases when
it was simply forbidden
for a student
to shoot something
that he wanted to.
And could they forbid
you to shoot something?
When you were working with
someone, did it happen to you?
- To me?
- Yes.
Yes, I just don't
remember with whom.
But something like
this happened.
But it was not with
Bargieowski, with someone else?
Now, I don't remember exactly
whether it was with him or not.
It's a nightmare, there's
no such things now.
Right.
- It sounds so insane.
It was unpleasant,
but what could we do?
It was like that. It was normal.
In our country.
There are about 600 film distribution
organizations in our country.
They supply films to
over 230 000 cinemas.
A 'Movies' truck used to come
even to the most remote villages.
Tickets were cheap and
theatres were everywhere.
Almost all films in cinemas
were made in the USSR.
To provide all the Soviet
screens with content,
there were more than 30 film studios
producting fiction and documentary films.
One of them was the
Odessa Film Studio
that employed my grandpa after
his graduation from the VGIK.
All the Soviet films
have one trait.
Sometimes only briefly, but inevitably
they mention communist ideology
the struggle against the
enemies of the revolution
and the achievements
of the Soviet rule.
Since 1965, a new
topic appeared.
The victory of the
USSR over Germany.
My grandpa's first feature
film, 'Faithfulness',
was dedicated to
the military topic.
He shot it together with two
other cinematographers...
Vadym Avloshenko and
Vadym Kostromenko.
Hitler is a son of a bitch.
Were marching here
because of him.
When you were filming 'Faithfulness',
how did you divide who shot what?
I don't remember now.
Why would they divide?
- Well, I don't know.
I just wonder how it works when you
have a few cinematographers on set.
I found just a few
words about the film.
About the shooting
process and so on.
You shot in Saratov, right?
- Yes, we were in Saratov.
- There was the young actress Galya Polskikh.
Yes, we were there.
And why there?
There was a military
academy, probably.
A military academy?
They could use the
students. A cheap solution.
The training yard, the barracks.
There were many interiors
they didn't have to build.
Company!
The enemy is on our left!
Hurray!
It was the debut of Piotr
Todorovsky as a director
and Bulat Okudzhava as a screenwriter
and for the cinematographers.
The film was a good career
start for all its authors.
In 1965, it was screened at
the Venice Film Festival.
Incidentally, The Studio allowed the production to start
only after this specific scene was added to the script.
As a citizen of the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics.
I join the ranks
of the Red Army,
take the oath and solemnly
swear to be an honest,
brave, disciplined,
vigilant fighter.
I swear to strictly keep
military and state secrets.
I swear to study military
affairs in good faith.
Right before the
festival screening,
Todorovsky cut out this scene
and threw it into the canal.
The film won Best Debut award,
and Burlaka began working as
a director of photography.
After 'Faithfulness', grandpa
made one film per year.
Almost all of them were related
to the Soviet-German war.
It seems that for 20 years the
Soviets avoided mentioning the war
as it was a great mistake
that cost millions of lives.
No celebrations were held
Wounded veterans were
placed out of the big cities
The ending of war
was not celebrated.
Just starting from 1965
the 9th of May became a new
Soviet holiday, a Victory Day.
The scale of its celebration
was increasing year by year.
They started holding
parades, building monuments,
and, of course, making movies.
The army was involved in the production process
providing any equipment and soldiers as extras.
That's how in 1971 grandpa made
together with Vadym Lysenko
one of the most expensive films of the Odessa
Film Studio, 'Train to Farewell August'.
Grandpa saw these
events as a child,
he stayed with his parents in Odessa
during the Romanian occupation.
I asked him about that time,
but the answer was "I
don't even want to recall."
"The hostility that is sown"?
H a gap T and
three more letters.
Hatred, it will be 6 letters.
"The hostility that is sown"?
Which photos do you need?
The ones taken before
the filmschool.
Before the film school?
Here they are -
before the filmschool.
Hm, Igor this is...
Whos that siting near him?
His camera assistant perhaps
Holy moly!
It's ok, no worries.
Did you manage to set
up one more camera?
- Yes, I did.
- It's okay then, never mind.
[ODESSA FILM STUDIO]
Where did they get the idea to
film something in Sanzhiika?
- Do you know?
- Yes, I do.
Actually, the filmscript of 'The Prosecutor
Gives Testimony wasnt very interesting.
And the shooting did't
imply such a scale.
Yet Leonid Burlaka is a
creative person. He's a seeker.
He kind of brought unusual
photography into the film.
Such an interesting
approach to filming.
Even in the beginning, when the actress
runs along the shore and the camera flies.
He brought these poetic
elements into the movie.
And it livened up the
film. Immediately.
But actually...
There were mostly
interiors at first.
And then, during the shooting,
they tried to come outside
as much as possible.
He seemed to be self-contained.
He wasn't an
extrovert back then.
He kept his distance.
On the cutting board.
- What do you want me to cut?
- The cabbage stalk.
- All around? This one?
- Yes, yes.
- But it will fall apart.
- No, it wont.
- This way?
- Yes.
Maybe you should begin
from the side? This one.
Oh, come on.
- Now youll chop the stalk.
- Easy, Im not there yet.
Open it, guys.
[The Meeting Place
Cannot Be Changed]
In 1979 the most famous film
shot by my grandpa was released
'The Meeting Place
Cannot Be Changed'.
It was a TV-miniseries
that he shot together
with a director
Stanislav Govorukhin.
Show your documents, comrades.
Our documents are fine.
Toporkov is heavily wounded.
Luckily, Soloviov is still alive,
but I don't know much more.
It was a new format for
the Soviet audience.
The leading role was
performed by an extremely
popular actor and singer
Vladimir Vysotsky.
Damn you, bastard.
You betrayed all of
us: those who survived
and those who died but werent
afraid of the criminal bullet.
The script was quite
unusual for the USSR.
It's a criminal drama
with a star cast.
It shows complicated moral dilemmas
and multidimensional characters.
The film became a massive hit.
Most of the people who were born in
the USSR have seen it multiple times.
There are even statues of the
main characters in some cities.
Theres a lot of behind the scenes
photos from this film on the Internet.
The cameraman is visible
there mostly from his back
If you can see him at all.
I was trying to find
behind the scenes footage.
The film archives have catalogues
that describe each stored shot.
By the tags 'Film
shoots', 'Odessa',
I found the 'Soviet Ukraine'
newsreel from May 1979,
There was footage of
the Odessa Film Studio.
It documents the
production process
and directors who
worked with my grandpa.
There was also the backstage
of 'The Meeting Place...
including this one...
PAN: The panoramic
shot of the cameraman.
In fact, this is the only known chronicle
footage with my grandpa behind the camera.
Two seconds.
48 frames.
It shows that grandpa,
unlike the others,
used to look into the
camera with his left eye.
It was his habit.
Taste it, Igor.
I finally managed to persuade grandpa
to see a doctor to check his eye.
It isn't good.
Nothing can be
done at this stage,
the process is irreversible.
And now the eye is blind.
Yep.
How do you feel now?
- Can you watch TV?
- With one eye.
Pardon?
- But can you watch TV like that?
- Well, it's okay.
- With one eye. This one is blind.
This is his left eye, he used
to look into the camera with it.
He has been using it
intensely all his life.
As soon as the eye hemorrhage happened,
we should have acted right away.
"Oh, it's nothing",
that's what he said.
And now it's a trouble.
Yeah.
I just brought a film for
you to watch, a new one.
This year's Oscar winner
for the best cinematography.
- Really?
- For you to watch, yes.
- Okay, we'll watch.
- That's why I'm asking...
No, he is watching TV, he reads
books to our granddaughter.
Film cameras used to have
very dim viewfinders.
This was especially inconvenient
when shooting daytime exteriors.
It took a lot of effort to adjust
focus and keep track of the image.
Photo cameras had
the same problem
and grandpa photographed a lot.
He didn't keep a diary.
But nearly all his life can be
traced through his photo archive.
A half century in
450 film rolls.
More than 15,000 shots.
Here is his family,
friends, travels,
holidays, shoots,
location scouting.
But, more importantly,
his daughters.
Their eldest - my mom Olga.
And the youngest, Nastia.
It seems to me that these photographs are
much more valuable to him than his movies.
The private photographs back then
weren't meant to be shown to everyone.
On the contrary, to keep something
valuable just for yourself.
Something truly yours.
Sit down here..
- Pardon?
- Sit down, have a look.
- Do you want some?
- Whats that?
- A pancake.
- Cool.
Those photos that I found
in the summer house,
those damaged films
I showed them to my friends
who work at the gallery.
They curate this gallery.
And they offered me to
exhibit those pictures.
- Really?
- Yes.
Well, I have been thinking...
To put it short, those photos of
yours, from the damaged negatives,
they want to exhibit
them in the gallery.
What do you think?
So...
What do you want from me?
Im asking you: what do
you think about this idea?
Remind me please.
I dont get it.
Do you remember the negatives
from our summer house?
Yes, I do.
- The ones with melted and damaged emulsion.
I showed them to
my acquaintances.
They run this gallery
that Im showing you.
They run what?
This is their gallery.
- Oh, the gallery?
- Its in Kyiv, in downtown.
They offered to exhibit
your photos there.
To make an exhibition.
- So what do I do?
- I dont know.
- Maybe, you should come to the opening.
- I need to come?
Well, if you want to.
- Where is it again?
- In Kyiv.
Oh, Igor
Its fast now. Theres
a high speed train.
No, my dear.
There will be an
opening, a sort of event.
No, perhaps its not
an option anymore.
You think so?
No, my dear.
Okay, think it over.
We have plenty of time.
Its in one month.
So think it over.
Ill think it over.
I just shot this as a sketch.
We talked over the
placement with them.
I want to print some
pictures in a large size.
- So it will be there?
- Yes, this is the place.
Here you go.
So. Is it okay?
Grandma, are the
garbage bins far away?
- What?
- Are the garbage bins far?
Somewhere behind the garages.
I believe, he'll figure it out.
Usually, when I ask
him to get some water
I also ask to take
the trash out.
There's a garbage bin at
the end of the building.
I have to explain a
thousand times how to...
walk along the building,
how to find the garbage bin.
Well, you know,
I think it's also hard
for him, actually.
Why?
He kind of knows that there's
something off with him.
He's coming.
Of course, he knows.
But he can do nothing about it.
That's the most horrible feature
of his state that he knows it all.
Grandpa was one of those few Soviet
citizens who could travel abroad.
Sadly, he always traveled abroad
by himself, never with grandma.
At the time, the couples were
not allowed to travel together.
Just in case, so they
wouldn't escape to the West.
What was he thinking about at the airports
when other countries were so close?
Had he ever thought about
running away to the West?
Probably not.
The 1970s and 1980s were a
good time for them in Odessa,
both personally
and professionally.
The Studio produced up
to 16 movies per year
The studio provided my grandparents with
the flat and a place for a summer house.
Land in a field near a lake.
Everything on this plot is
made by grandpa's hands.
Everything is built
by him from scratch.
According to Soviet standards, he
had everything a man could dream of:
a car, a summer house
and a videoplayer.
In the late 80s, VHS
ame to the Soviet Union.
My grandpa could borrow
a camera from the Studio
to capture important events.
- Can we go?
- Yes!
For example, to film
my parents' wedding
or the opening of the first
film festival in Odesa in 1987.
It's hard to believe that all this
was happening in the Soviet Odessa.
Also he filmed
his travels abroad
We'll never catch up...
He filmed the displays
full of regular goods
that were hard to find in
USSR: shoes, groceries, TVs...
VHS was becoming more
and more popular.
Video rentals appeared with the movies
that could not be seen in cinemas.
The distribution revenues of the
Soviet films started dropping.
We turned on our camera
in October, 1990.
It's hard times.
The financial crisis, devaluation
of the Soviet currency.
The collapse of various
institutions and enterprises.
The destiny of the Odesa Film
Studio is also very uncertain.
Those who will watch
this film in the future
will know how it all ended up.
But we don't know anything yet.
In 1991, the Soviet
Union collapsed.
So, the Soviet film
production collapsed as well.
There were less and less films
made in the following years.
Many studio employees
lost their jobs
My grandpa got lucky.
He shot a few features
during the 1990s.
However, those were films
of a much smaller scale.
- Antonovych, were out of focus.
- Did you turn it on? No.
Its not working.
You need to press full.
See? Enough?
Yes, lets record it.
- Were finished?
- Yes. Its half past four.
Now grandad was
filming our childhood.
Keep it.
And jump.
- Grandpa, grandpa.
- He cant figure out that you are coming along.
- Lets go.
- Grandpa, grandpa.
Come on.
One!
Two!
And three! And on your own now.
Turn around and
cycle further on.
Stay still, don't turn around
See me, if you wish.
Well done, Igor!
- Arent you tired holding the camera in your hands?
- Im good.
- Is it recording?
- Yes!
Hold here... Take a wide
shot. Hold the level.
Hold here... Take a wide
shot. Hold the level.
Yeah.. Good, now press "Stop"
Grandpa's last film
was released in 1999.
Rolling. Scene 33, take 1.
It was a year of
significant film releases.
'The Matrix', 'Fight Club', 'Toy
Story 2', 'Star Wars, Episode 1'
and grandpas 'How a Blacksmith
Sought for Happiness'
Everything is mine!
It was a low-budget,
a very low-budget film.
Then we have a bluescreen shot..
And this one whack, whack,
whack! And thats it.
Most of grandpas
colleagues were pensioners.
This videotape is
marked as October 9th.
This is my grandpa's
birthday. Hes turning 60.
Open and pour!
We have to drink to a
wonderful and talented person!
May he live long and continue
bringing us joy
throught his art.
From the bottom of my soul
I wish him to be
healthy and truly happy.
And also his family,
children, grandchildren.
All the best wishes!
Honestly, some of the youth
will soon envy Leonid.
Because starting today,
he'll develop sclerosis.
Like in an anecdote...
Are you planning to come to
the Studio's 100th anniversary?
First of all, I don't know
whether we will be invited.
I think you'll be
invited for sure.
Not for sure at all.
Nobody congratulated grandpa
on his 80th birthday.
Neither the Odesa
Union of Filmmakers,
nor the National one.
No one! No letter, no
phone call, no message.
Given the fact that he turned
80 last year in October.
But no one did anything
on this occasion.
Of course, they remember
him at the Studio.
And they know that I'm
making a film about grandpa.
- Really?
- Sure. The Studio tries to help us.
At least, they don't
create obstacles.
The last 15 years the
Studio is stagnating.
Sometimes shoots are happening, but
mostly it is a service production.
The Studio is managed
by a private owner now
but its obvious that film
production is not their priority.
Because in the last 15 years
the Studio hasnt developed.
The films that are stored
here, at this damp warehouse,
were seen by millions of people.
Some of those took part in
international film festivals
and one of them was
nominated for an Oscar.
One more is stored here.
There are over 400
films stored here.
This is 'Forgive',
his next movie.
In a couple of years those
films might be lost forever.
And around 30 movies shot
by grandpa along with them.
These thujas used
to be small, right?
Yes.
They used to be small, so
you could see the delta.
And now they're tall,
with thick trunks.
Oh my, I'm so tired.
- Is it the heat?
- Yes.
And I have to manage it all.
"Leonid, get this
from the shed."
"But where's the shed?"
Here, the first door.
"Where? Where do I go?"
But do you understand that...
I do, but I'm just
telling you why Im tired.
Because I need to
go to the shed,
Get what I ask him to get
and take it back.
I do understand that it's
not going to get better.
But I pray to God that
it doesn't get worse.
- So, the bottom line is...
- I got it.
I pray it doesn't get worse.
So he would still remember that
he needs to use the toilet.
Here, I need to take
him to the toilet.
Sit down here.
Poor, poor thing.
I simply cannot come to terms with
the thought that he is like this now.
No, he can't hear us anyway.
He used to be so lively.
He never had problems
with any technical issues.
We're slowly scanning
your entire archive.
All the photo rolls
that you've shot.
We scan them so that we can
look at them on a computer.
And there are so many
pictures of Nastya.
Literally, she's on
every third film.
Nastya, the youngest daughter.
Many pictures of little Nastya.
Its strange but even more
than of Olya, my mother.
I can't remember, frankly.
But it's not the point.
I just got curious
about all that.
Why did she leave for good?
Why did it happen this way?
Tell me more, maybe
I'll remember.
Do you remember Nastya?
Nastya, the youngest daughter.
Well, not yet.
Alright, I'll show you
the pictures later.
Okay.
So beautiful.
These are also the
pictures from...
Wow, such a beauty.
These are also from your
film that I scanned.
And who's this?
- Well, it's Nastya.
- This is Nastya, right?
Such screams!
Wow. A severe face.
The lips...
are right in the middle.
Awesome shot.
I don't know how to
help my grandpa now.
It's impossible to
save his memory,
but at least his
legacy can be saved.
If we would linger a bit longer,
not only my granddad's films
but all films of Odessa Studio,
including films by Kira Muratova
Stanislav Govorukhin, Piotr Todorovsky
and many others can be lost forever
Not only because of
poor storage conditions,
but due to the danger that The Studio
itself can be demolished and redeveloped.
As has happened to most of the
former state-owned buildings around.
It took half a year of
negotiations to convince everyone
that the films need to be moved
to the proper film archive.
420 films in thousands of
boxes weighed nearly 6 tons.
Now the movies will be stored in
the National Film Archive in Kyiv.
It has all the conditions for storage,
restoration and digitalization.
There we've found out what
happened to granddads photo films
Turned out, damages
weren't made on purpose.
The structure of the
film itself was to blame.
In USSR the dangerous nitrate
film was in use up to mid-60's.
The emulsion dissolves on
it even at room temperature
and causes such
distortions to the images.
In 2018 we opened a first exhibition
of Leonid Burlakas photographs
Later on we showed
it in more cities.
In 2019 this exhibition
opened in Odessa.
Do you recognise
those? Your pictures.
Yes, I do.
- Do you recognise?
Its from the same film roll.
- Are you cold?
- No, not really.
FestiFilm...
It's a T-shirt from
the film festival.
Now the rain has stopped...
[THE END]