Valerii Balaian (born on August 30, 1960) is a documentary film director and screenwriter. He started his career as unskilled worker at the Lenfilm Studio. In 1989 he graduated from Higher Courses of Screenwriters and Directors of USSR Goskino where he was qualified as a director of non-fiction films. Later he shot more than 60 documentaries, mostly biographical ones. He has worked in Moscow, but has recently returned to Ukraine and became a citizen of Ukraine.
Valerii Balaian’s latest film Who is Mr. Putin is an investigation of criminal establishment of current leader of Russia, it became a real sensation, with millions of views on the Internet.
“A PLOT OF SILENCE EMERGED AROUND OUR FILM IN RUSSIA”
Mr. Balaian, by what criteria do you select your characters?
“I have shot many biographical films, but those were mostly anniversary portraits of outstanding people ordered by Culture Channel. I was lucky to meet Merab Mamardashvili, Aleksandr Pyatigorsky, Natalia Bekhtereva, and Vladimir Voinovich. Not only what they said and wrote, but their way of being in this world teaches us a lot. Who is Mr. Putin is in no way connected with my heroes, and since this figure has usurped the power in Russia and is blackmailing the entire world, I had to deal with him closely. It was not my good will, life forced me to do this.”
What was the exact stimulus? What was the last drop?
“Not even the last drop – rather an accumulation of events, the transition from quantity to quality, so to say. Separate facts have made a general picture, owing to my co-authors, investigator journalists Vladimir Ivanidze and Anastasia Kirilenko. What you see in the film is a result of their many-year research.”
Has there been any reaction from the official persons?
“What is voiced in the film is backed by very serious documents. That is exactly the reason why it was surrounded by a plot of silence in Russia. Pay attention to the fact that Navalny’s film Seagull is broadly discussed in RF media space. But you must not touch the czar. Only Mikhail Veller criticized the film live on radio, and that was all. They chose the tactics of not drawing any attention, not to mentioning it at all. But now we have over 2.5 million views on various Internet platforms. No doubt, this is a victory. And a very demonstrative fact is that none of those who was mentioned there has not sued and I don’t think will ever sue us to defend his reputation, taking into account the fact that under every episode undisputable documents are mentioned, in particular, those concerning the ‘Spanish case.’”
What is the general picture?
“The power in Russia has been seized by criminal groups which are connected with the KGB. This is the conclusion none has ever voiced before us. Based on the investigation, we are making absolutely clear and chemically pure conclusions: criminals are in power in Russia. This is the story we have gotten.”
“MY FRIENDS IN RUSSIA ARE AFRAID TO TALK ABOUT THIS FILM”
What was the most complicated thing during your work?
“Lack of budget. I funded the shooting myself. We didn’t have either a cameraman or a sound technician – the picture is lame and the sound is very bad. We did everything on the knee, like amateurs. And those who write to us that we received an order to make this film could have at least looked from this viewpoint – it is clear that technically Who is Mr. Putin was shot for kopeks. We didn’t earn anything, we still owe people money. I need to pay to guys at least for business trips, but so far I don’t have such a possibility. But we didn’t face any obstacles. We developed a certain system of secrecy – before December 29 only five people knew about the shooting. One more thing. It is rightly called a Ukrainian film, but it has been made completely by Russian citizens for Russia. Even I during the shooting was a citizen of the Russian Federation.”
Have you been threatened?
“There have been no direct threats. However, my friends in Russia are afraid to talk about this film. I read commentaries on the media – there are a lot of obscene words and dirt, but no one denies the essence. The arguments are of the level ‘you yourself are a fool,’ but no one says anywhere that we lied or distorted some facts. They don’t even accuse us of connections with the State Department of the US.”
It’s hard to believe this.
“Vladimir Ivanidze paid for this with his job in France – he was fired for this film. I would like you to write about this. Currently he is in a difficult financial situation. I want to organize a campaign to help him. For the truth he was speaking he was at first turned out of Russia, where he was a leading journalist of the newspapers Kommersant, Vedomosti – and now they have reached him even in France.”
“PUTIN IS A MEDIATOR, A FUNCTION MAN”
What impressed you the most in what you found out?
“I was recalling myself in those years, how we trusted Sobchak, who turned out to be a thief and a briber. For us he was an icon of democracy. In fact, when you see what was going on at that time… he privatized personally for himself over 70 objects of real estate. And Putin, as well as the rest of his gang, came with direct agreement and support of all of these democrats. And they all promoted him. Not Sobchak supervised Putin, but Putin supervised Sobchak. And Ivanidze explained a very interesting thing to me. We do not mention it in the film, but it’s true. Do you remember shadow economy operators?”
Very well. In Dnipropetrovsk, my home town, that was a well-developed underground business in most severe Soviet time.
“And in Caucasus, generally the south. So, back in the USSR time a secret meeting took place, where the agreements between the shadow economy operators, law enforcers, and the KGB were made. Later these agreements moved from the criminal world into the new time. At that time the money of the shadow economy operators was divided, and now the money of the state budget is. Gang leaders have become businessmen. Without having this in mind it is impossible to understand what is going on now. One of Putin’s tasks was to cut off unneeded people from financial flows. In such a way all of the oligarchs were appointed. And Russia is governed, like previously, by a criminal and state security system. And it is important to bring this moment to people. Many things have been inherited from that past.”
Photo by Yaroslav MIZERNY
So, it was logical that Putin has come?
“Anyone could be in his place. He was supposed to provide communication between the criminal world, the law-enforcement structures, and the new power. He is a mediator, a function-man. All these agreements are made via him. He could have had a different name. That is why I take no interest in his personality. I think the Yeltsin family chose him after they paid attention to his ability to fulfill duties, the ability to be, as they thought, an obedient executor – but he deceived everyone. Namely the talent of a mediator was what brought Putin to power: he doesn’t show off, but at the same time he easily cooperated with the Tambov and Malyshev guys. I think he easily cooperated with criminals, because he could speak their jargon, which can still be noticed in his speech. He’s the right guy for everyone. A kind of a boat that levels everyone’s interests. By the way, for the English version I had a very apt title, The Kingpin, a detail which is fastened to the cart and a mafia boss at the same time. Unfortunately, in the US there is a comic’s character with such a name, but that was a perfect title for me. A gangster and an important detail of a mechanism at the same time.”
“THE WAR FOR MINDS IS UNDERWAY, AND WHO IS MR. PUTIN IS OUR VOLUNTEER’S CONTRIBUTION TO IT”
You have worked a lot in Russia. Have you returned to Ukraine or started a new life here?
“I was born in Ukraine. My mom is Ukrainian, my grandmother lived in Kyiv. I am a son of two nations, an Armenian Ukrainian. I have two homelands, but Russia is none of them. My second homeland is Karabakh. Roman Balaian and I are from Karabakh, and when we meet, we look into where our villages are located, where our relatives come from. A half a year ago I became a Ukrainian national. Here is my home, and I feel very good here.”
How has Ukrainian cinema changed over the past two years, according to your observations?
“Since there is no real industry, every live action film becomes an event, whereas documentary cinema is developing actively. Besides, there is an interesting phenomenon: there are a lot of female directors who are often braver than men. On the whole, the feelings are very positive. It looks like this generation is getting closer to its maturity.”
What does our cinema lack to thrive?
“Only state support. I don’t get offended by this, I don’t even submit any applications to the State Film Agency. Ukraine needs to stand now.”
Where is the place for cinema in this fight?
“Our government is unaware that the Ukrainian space from morning till night is being influenced by Goebbels’s propaganda. We don’t need a counter propaganda, it’s enough to show the truth. For this we need cinema and television, we shouldn’t spare money for this. A war for minds is underway, and Who is Mr. Putin is our volunteer’s contribution to it. This is not a film I am proud of as a director. This is a motion placard, political film, aimed at bringing the truth, but the truth is the weapon in this fight. Above all in Russia. Let them watch and deny, and I will listen. But they cannot, no matter how badly they want to. They just have no arguments.”
