When I was shooting the film I did not see the story as an everyday tale or a social one. To a great extent, the film is a mythological look on human life. This is probably what I would like the audience to keep in mind before they enter the screening room.

Everything that fed my energy and imagination is something that I'm disinclined to speak about.

I knew, starting in 10th grade, I wanted to be in theater and an actor. I went to acting school in Siberia, but there was no future there - and I was consumed with ambition.

Observing life, living through it. As you experience life some events call upon you to suffer through them and that's what brings inspiration.

What I know is that I am honest about my films, and my films are honest about reality. The stories themselves dictate the way that they should be told.

The most important thing for me is the image, not the thought.

Most Russians don't treat the government, or those in power, as something close to them. They don't believe that they, as ordinary people, are able to change the development of things. That's why they have a very specific ironic sentiment towards power and the figures that represent it. I wanted to translate this irony into the cinematic language.