Sergey Dvortsevoy
Tulpan, Sergey Dvortsevoy (2008)
Sergey Dvortsevoy is a Kazakhstani screenwriter, editor, producer, and film director. His first documentary feature Bread Day won Best Film at Krakow, Leipzig DOK, and St. Petersburg—Highway, his second documentary feature, won the Grand Prix at FIDMarseille. Dvortsevoy's narrative debut, Tulpan, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in Un Certain Regard, where it won Best Film, and is a New York Times Critics' Pick. Tulpan was the fourth film ever submitted by Kazakhstan for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but it was not nominated.
In an exclusive interview with Filmatique, Sergey Dvortsevoy discusses snakes, the heat of the steppe, documentary-style attention to natural detail, and his next project.
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FILMTATIQUE: Tulpan traces the journey of Asa, a young man who returns to his native village in Kazakhstan and seeks to win the heart of his neighbor's daughter, so that he may build a life as a shepherd. Asa encounters many obstacles, but fights to achieve and preserve this vanishing way of life. What inspired you to tell this particular story?
SERGEY DVORTSEVOY: I was born in Kazakhstan, lived there for 29 years and worked at the Soviet Union aviation company Aeroflot for 9 years. There I met a man who could not marry due to his big ears. I decided to make a film about such a man living in the huge steppe who needs to find a wife.
FLMTQ: Tulpan is your first narrative film after having worked quite extensively in documentary films. How did your past documentary experience inform your approach to shooting Tulpan, and what key differences did you encounter along the way?
SD: I have never dreamt about making feature films. Once a friend of mine—my co–writer Gennadiy Ostrovsky—said I should make a fiction film about my past, in Kazakhstan. I agreed. But I didn't want to make a regular fiction film—I wanted to show the beauty of the Kazakh steppe and nature using a documentary approach. I believe this is the only way to show real nature: the animals and the steppe.
Tulpan, Sergey Dvortsevoy (2008)
FLMTQ: Some of the film's most stunning sequences involve quiet moments, wide shots of the vast steppe, immersing the spectator in the rhythms of nature, the visceral birth of a lamb. By slowing down to experience nature in its own time, the ecological world becomes an indispensable presence, very much a character itself. Can you discuss your aesthetic approach to capturing these details through sound and image, and what significance you attribute to their inclusion?
SD: One spectator once told me that he feels, even smells, the steppe and the dust watching Tulpan. I think this becomes possible just because I try to shoot unique moments and details of the place, its nature and its life. The more unique the moment I can present to the audience, the more associations and thoughts the audience will feel.
FLMTQ: Though steeped in local detail, Asa's journey has resonances across borders, due to his affable character which is rooted in a stunning lead performance. How did your casting process lead you to Askhat Kuchencherekov, and how did you work with him on set to bring this character to life?
SD: I found Askhat doing casting all over Kazakhstan. He was a student at a local film academy at the time. Askhat was born and lived in a Kazakh village, and I tried to base the role on his own life experience.
Tulpan, Sergey Dvortsevoy (2008)