World famous film director, animator, and artist Ihor KOVALIOV is a former resident of Kyiv (though there is probably not such a thing as a “former resident of Kyiv”). His work as an animator began at the film studio Kyivnauchfilm side by side with Alexander Tatarsky. Later he conquered Moscow, America, and the rest of the world of animation movies fans with his clever and sincere movies. His name is among hundereds of world’s best film directors. His works received many prestigious international awards, his film Milch only won 13 awards on its own. Today Kovaliov intends to film his auteur’s project in Ukraine and is now looking for a Ukrainian producer.
Mr. Kovaliov you had a bright start to your career here in Kyiv with Sasha Tatarsky. In the early 1980s you went to Moscow, where at that time you could fully realize your potential. Together with Tatarsky you organized Pilot studio and earned great popularity for your work. Then you moved to work in America. Why did you make this diecision?
“There were two and a half reasons for that. Firstly, at that time a period of great stagnation in cinema began – there were no proposals. Secondly, it was interesting to work in the US, but I was certain that I could only sign a contact for a year or year and a half. My wife understood the situation and advised me to have a shot so I agreed. At that time I didn’t know a word in English. I realized that I was going there not to make my own auteur animation, which meant a lot to me, but to work on serial stream. However, the owner of the studio promised that I would have possibility to work on my own films as well. Even my American fellows, who have long been working at the studio, were astonished at that, because there were not sthat many people who could make auteur films not for their own money. The atmosphere at the studio was the same as in Moscow: the same people obsessed with animation drew on the same kind of paper – it calmed me down.”
How did you begin to work on your own film in America?
“From the first day upon arrival I set to writing a script, it didn’t interfere with the main work and nobody knew about it. I had been writing for a long time and then just pinned the owner down to fact – put the ready script down on his table. He did make a promise to me after all. I was told that once I finished the work on TV series I would be able to begin working on my own film. You wouldn’t be able to imagine my feeling then – all shivering, to put it mildly. However, it is really much easier to say than to do something. A few guys from Pilot studio already worked at that studio. I was allowed to involve them into my work. It was fantastic. I don’t even know what the budget of the film was. I received monthly salary and the studio kept paying me that when I worked on studio orders. American colleagues told me that it was no surprise because a couple of TV series was already finished and earned good money for the producer. However, there was a break in my work for two and a half months. Studio management asked me to work on the important task for them.”
When we last spoke with you did you mention the possibility of coming back to Ukraine as there are not that many people who could give money for film production?
“Maybe, I would honestly tell you that I would really like to work in Kyiv but I realize how unreal this idea is. Now it as if began to dawn. I’ve heard that people now pay attention to cinema in Ukraine, but I still don’t know about any real examples. Anyway I am already very close – I work in Moscow on a Russian project. I will explain you why. I do it only to be close to my mother. She lives in Kyiv and is over 80 now. I can’t have peace knowing that she lives all alone in this big apartment, so much loved by me on Tolstoy Square. I would like to be close and often come to visit her from Moscow.”
You left Moscow long time ago but still go there, even though there are of course issues of housing, society, and personal space. Those issues arise inevitably.
“First of all, my family lives in Moscow, my ex-wife Kira Padve. We are divorced but remain very close friends. Every time I come to Moscow I stay at her place. I am not afraid to say that we love each other and we have relationship of family members. If I will begin to not just work but also earn money for that, of course, I would like to rent an apartment and live alone. It is still the plan for the future and I don’t know how things will work out for me.”
Work can be uncertain. Today in the US you have the job that makes you feel pretty confident and still gives you opportunity to engage in auteur animation. Aren’t you afraid to take risks?
“At the present moment, I can only engage myself into auteur animation because things are complicated with jobs. I have been teaching for the last three years and did nothing at studios because I simply don’t want to. The studio, where I worked for 13 years disappeared, it does not exist as a unit, they do not produce anything. After that I began teaching and I really like it. Besides, I launched my new auteur film project and it makes me happy. The project is produced from Canada and France.”
Are you willing to take risks only to be close to your mother?
“Yes, I am. I am willing only if I get well paid.”
Once, not because of money but because of the desire to work freely you left the country.
“Yes, of course. I am aware of that, I perfectly understand it all. I really hope my mother will be fine. I do it all just for her.”
Recently the KROK festival has finished. What are your impressions of Ukrainian participants? We didn’t escape crisis like most of others.
“I am not interested in politics at all.”
I am not talking about politics here but about Ukraine.
“I do have interest in Ukraine, I often come here, as I have already said. Every morning I read BBC news on their web site. In my opinion situation in Ukraine hasn’t changed. I mean, everything is the same, but people always talk, at least people I know, about politics, about elections: who will be the president, there is no worthy candidate, we don’t believe anyone, and we don’t know what it is going to be. Many people think like that. As far as I can understand, situation is extremely unstable.”
All of your films, as art in general, are one way or the other devoted to one theme – a man and his relations with spiritual life and the world. You are older now and a lot has changed both in the world and for you personally. How, taking this into account, your art subject, on the one hand, and reflection of what you are presenting the world, on the other hand, are changing?
“This is a very sensitive issue for me. Every time when I begin working on my next film I ask myself: ‘What is it? Why am I repeating myself, why do I make the same kind of film?’ Probably, the artist can not escape from himself. Of course, to be honest, one should be doing what he can and the way he feels it. That is why everything is drawn by one hand. Sometimes I invite an artist to make a different design and I like it very much but when I start working with those characters I simply can’t do it, I feel awkward, that is why again those characters are mine. I am an artist by nature and a film director. My topic is love and love triangle. Woman and two men. Eternal theme. This is the subject of many film directors engaged in animation, there is even a film called Triangle. My film is called something like She Still Does Not Love. Exactly like that, it is about difficulties in a relationship between a woman and a man. It is a triangle-type plot because there is one more person who goes from one and comes to the other. The film will have murder scene and blood in it. I’ve never had anything like that before.”
Did you write the script?
“Yes, the script is mine. I never shoot other people’s scripts.”
No matter what we do in our lives, whether it be writing or drawing, we, to some extent, are talking about ourselves, about our experiences, and life circumstances the way we see them in time, let’s say. How important is it to talk about these eternal, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, absolutely every day topics to today’s audience, even festival audience, or some other small group of people interested in animation? What is of most interest to you: quality of image, way of presenting the material, or material itself? Topic or the way it can be visually presented?
“I have never thought about it because every new project is a film for myself, I don’t think about the audience. I do not think about who will watch it, I don’t want to show it to anyone. Then when the film is ready, I begin thinking that maybe this person should have a look at this, this very person, because I’m usually interested in opinion of certain people. It is my entertainment, my game, when I am making a film for myself. I am always happy when there is possibility to make my auteur films. When I work for some company, of course, I do it for the audience, TV channels, and studios. My film is a system of self-expression and I want to show it to myself. It is interesting for me to see how it will look. I like to put it together and watch it on the screen. What will audience think? Of course, it is important for any artist, very important. I can’t say that this film will be different in any way from my previous works. At least I know for sure: this film will be more commercial, even though I don’t like this word, than my previous films.”
Decision to make it more commercial is the demand of the present time?
“No, not at all. It came up spontaneously. I was writing the script, began describing and drawing it for myself in detail and I was struck with the vision of it. I believe that audience will perceive it easier than my previous films.”
In a modern situation when television has fixed format, film distribution is practically gone, how can a film be brought to audience, if not through festivals?
“Only on DVDs. I just can’t imagine where it will be screened. The Frenchmen want to make a stereo version to be able to show it in cinemas. It means that they want to show short auteur films before some big show, like we once has those journals.”
What team do you work with?
“It is the same team. As usual, it is guys from Los Angeles, Dim Malanich – permanent man, an artist, I always work with. Yevhenii Deriukhin and some other people. But I will have to work for a while with French animators because they invest money into this project. The same is with Canada. But these are purely technical details, the creative team will remain the same.”
Why are the producers from former Soviet countries interested in projects of this kind when there is no distribution of such films? In your opinion, what do they gain from it?
“Producer Dina Kim worked only with auteur cinema, noncommercial films that don’t pay off. Probably, they know the ways to sell it.”
You have traveled a lot around the world and took part in different festivals of different levels. What is festival movement like these days? Do people need it? If yes, then what for?
“Animation festival, of course, mean auteur cinema. It exists and will exist because artists want to express themselves. This is a very good question. It has always been a mystery for me why and how money is invested in animation? Today cinema market, animation as fiction films, and auteur fiction films do not pay off. Those kinds of films do not sell at all, it is absolutely and only festival distribution. By the way, modern auteur fiction films, in my opinion, are on a high level. There are animators in China, Japan, new generation of film directors. In Europe France is simply brilliant. Today is the time of new wave. There are many interesting directors. Some things are, of course, also done in animation. How do they sell it all, what for, and who gives money for it? State does. And it’s great! Here is an example, Estonia. They know that Estonian culture is not known in the world, people know very little about this country, but their animation is more or less presented at festivals, they make DVDs and sell them even though they don’t make a lot of money from it. More precisely, the whole profit is in creating country’s image, its prestige. Some people invest in this and are satisfied. Because I am an independent film director and work on auteur cinema, I would adore the producer, who would want to invest money in my and other films only so that this work could be done. Art must save everything and everyone.”
After all, no matter how we love life, how we like or don’t like what is happening around, we still happy when we do something we like. What gives you an inspiration for work and doesn’t let you give up?
“Apparently, I am an artist. I want to express myself, it would be boring to live without it. Frankly, when you work for a company, on a contract basis, it can not be called self expression, but earning money instead. I have a craft, I am a film director and an animator, and I make money. However, at the same time, there is something hurts, appears and, like a snow ball, falls on me. You begin to think day by day that it is impossible but you want to do it anyway. Why would you need these problems? Just because you want it. You want to create some kind of a world, your own toy, something for yourself. If someone will understand and accept it, it’ll be great. I was so pleased when my film got on the list of top hundred animated films of all times. It is on somewhere on 69th position, but still there are only four or five film directors from former Soviet Union on that list.”
The Day’s FACT FILE
Ihor KOVALIOV born January 17, 1954 in Kyiv. 1981 graduated from Animated Film Department, High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors (workshop led by Fyodor Khitruk and Yuriy Norshteyn). Worked as cartoon artist in creative association of artistic animation at film studio Kyivnauchfilm, as film director and art director in creative association Ekran, studio Multtelefilm. Founder of Animation Studio Pilot together with Igor Gelashvili, Aleksander Tatarsky, and Anatoliy Prokhorov (1988). Since 1991 lives in the US. Works as film director, art director at animation studio Klasky Csupo (Los Angeles).
FILMOGRAPHY
1974 Kstati o Ptichkakh (Speaking of Birds), USSR together with Tatarsky
1985 Kubik-Rubik, Klounada (Rubik’s Cube, Clownery) together with Tatarsky
1986 Sledstvie Vedut Kolobki (Koloboks Investigators), USSR together with Tatarsky
1988 Krylia, Nogi i Khvosty (Wings, Legs, and Tails), USSR together with Tatarky
1989 Yego Zhena Kuritsa (Hen, His Wife), USSR
1991 Andrei Svislotsky, USSR
1991 Lift-3, USSR together with Mikhail Aldashyn, Rinat Gazizov, Aleksander Tatarsky, and Mikhail Tumelia
1993 Aaahh Real Monsters, US
1996 Bird in the Window, US
1998 Rugrats the Movie, US co-producer together with Norton Virgien
2000 Flying Nansen, US
2005 Milch, Russia
