She has five children from her first husband is Ethiopian and adopted black son. “White mom” Alina Makarova became the heroine of the documentary about the adoption of another boy, nine year old Dani with mental retardation. The film received many awards, and the Director Zosia, Radkevich said “Pravmiru” why the First channel did not tell this story as she was fighting with Alexander Rastorguev, who died in the CAR, and why she was crying on the set.
A scene from the movie “White Mama”
- “Don’t worry, you’ll do poorly in school”
- “Ordinary does not take, and this is it?” – on the decision to adopt the family had three hours
- “Put’ em naked, dressed them and drove away. Junior never looked back” – to adopt four and learn to love
- “Fear son jumped on the table and was sure that we’ll get him back”
Alina Makarova, the mother of five black children from the first husband, the Ethiopian and adoptive mother of another African child, Dominic. While watching the pictures on the website of children without parents, Alina sees the photo and mentally retarded nine-year-old Dani and immediately decides to adopt him. The family decision is not happy, but after a few months a new baby comes home. In this story a documentary film “White mother”, which won at the film festival “Message to man” the greatest number of awards: best feature film, the prize of international film critics (FIPRESCI) and the award of the channel “Culture”. After the premiere the correspondent “Pravmir” Nastya Dmitrieva spoke with Zosia, Rodkevich, one of two Directors of the film.
“It’s too realistic story”
– How did you find this story? Or the story you found?
– There was so. Our friend Andrey Kiselev, also the Director, filmed in the Orthodox camp Leah, the eldest daughter Alina when she was 19. And brought in the Gun in project Reality. This project could be all that you want to remove, if it’s interesting. But for some reason nothing happened with this story.
And then Sasha did a project series for the First channel, where the women themselves were removed with a small operator. I was the Director operator. Looking for women, I remembered Leah, he thought, maybe her mom will be removed. Called my mother on the casting. She came to casting and said, “and we, by the way, I’m a white boy to adopt”. We said, “Oh, we’ll have to remove!”, and Sasha I stuck in this family. Began to take off.
Zosia, Radkevich. Photo: Katherine Feleuk / moviegram.com.ua
In the end, the First channel refused. They said, “It’s too realistic story for our reality show”. And the glory of God. Sasha insisted that we must continue to remove that is a movie. We took it to the end, and so did you.
I initially had the schedule that I had six days a week, be sure to be there.
It is clear that this is dumb, and people annoying, and they also should rest at least a little. Then it was reduced to three to four days a week. Not that I thought: “Well, sure, four days!”. If there are a lot of important events planned – a hike somewhere with Danik or something, then more often. But, in principle, not less than four days in the week I was there.
– As you knew when to stop shooting?
– We shot for seven months. Started filming two months before Dan came, and finished in March, seven months. We had a plan that we will finish when we get up Dominic and Dan will become friends, will cease to fight.
But it is clear that this is the life, and ostentatious reconciliation did not happen. So we were just like the contract that we’re shooting until March, and in March got to finish. But as we became friends, and it was hard to lose them, I still once a month, maybe, came. Or sometimes Alina said that something important was happening, I, too, came, shooting. But it’s not included in the film in the end. With Rastorgueva we madly fought. It seemed to him that I have to remove everything in their lives, and the fact that I have some of his plans and work he hated. When the eldest daughter Alina gave birth to a daughter, I had to give up, to withdraw, together with Alina to wait for delivery, a week there with her hanging around, although it was clear to me that it will not be included in the film that is another story. But Sasha, I was forced to do so.
A scene from the movie “White Mama”
– How have you solved conflicts? Who usually won?
– It depended. This conflict – Yes, in the end, I went because I was scared that I would miss something.
“But you can’t cut my tantrums?”
– Certainly, there were times when Danny has already appeared in the family when you wanted, maybe, to intervene or to Express something. You, as Director, could affect something?
– Alin I do not expressed. Dana because we really spent much time together, of course. Not that I interfered, he’s just asked something, I told him. I knew that if I intervene, it will ruin the story. But when we are humanly alone, can I tell him what I think.
On the other hand, why Danny behaves as if there is no camera? Because I took the picture from the very first day, as we from the orphanage were taken. We met him at the same time with Alina. Alina saw his picture, studied its history, but personally, eye to eye, we met at the same time. And he saw that when he was really bad was, I did not say anything, just shot. I’m not been evaluated, he saw it. Otherwise I would have lost all that is happening.
– And themselves within you as it is lived? There is a scene of conflict, when I want to take someone’s side, or the husband of Alina or Alina, or child. How did you cope with it? Personal emotions do not interfere with the working process?
– I just know that if I with personal emotions will not understand, it will lose the movie. Of course, I had the experience. They even had more, actually, when I material then has watched. Frames, for example, when Sergey beats him. I wasn’t involved, they are, though I have seen this too. And I was terribly hard to watch, I was sobbing.
Sometimes the viewing was harder than shooting. You just know that now that important things happen, concentrate on it and not think about what you personally feel.
You can go there and cry, and so on. I remember when Alina Danika hugs, he cries: “I can’t dityami to live”, and I take off out the door, then I stood crying. But that’s not really important, it’s just the emotions that you are experiencing. The main thing is to fix. It’s stupid, if you drop the camera and start crying or something to explain to anyone because your task is to remove work.
A scene from the movie “White Mama”
– Who came up with the name “White mother”?
– Zhenya came up (the second film’s Director, Eugene Ostanin, approx. ed.). I was against it, then I used to.
– Why vs?
– I think it’s this emphasis on racial things, I don’t really approve of this. But then I was convinced, and then I Alina convinced that there is black mama, a caring black big momma. There is a steady expression. And that has a white mama. We don’t even “white mother” took first, and white mama, all the time saying it in English. Like that is such an idiom, a play on words. And I, this idea was used. But I’m a long time it seemed controversial. I wanted another name, but another came up. (laughs)
– Do I understand correctly that Alina first time saw the film at the screening at the festival “Message to man”?
Yes. Actually, the movie is very different – as displayed in the movie it looks on the computer or on TV. And, of course, very cool that we won the prize of the channel “Culture”, and that now you can all watch a movie. I’m really curious how it will look in the TV: different formats, and in General.
Alina, of course, not so much laughed as I thought. A lot of things she doesn’t remember some scenes, she turned to me and whispered: “I don’t remember”. As she said in the discussion that she liked the movie. But some things she there opened, for example, the emotions of Dominique. As I understand it, she didn’t notice that it was news. And she took that feeling with me. But it’s looking good. It was a quick conversation, she went to Moscow and we talked. I think to further understand, we must meet again and talk.
– Was from the family moments of censorship? When the camera is something fixed, but they said, “it is Possible, it will not be included in the film?”.
– It was not what “do not enter”, but rather, I was asked not to shoot. Sometimes there were such scandals when Dan shouts, shouts, shouts, then sees that the camera is working and starts to shout: “Shoot me, shoot!”. And then Alina closed the door and said, “Please don’t”. And I also understand that when naturally one thing. But if it provokes the camera, it violates the law, in which the camera simply watches. She is a catalyst for hysteria, and then it is not needed.
And some were things, for example, the scene where Dominic got into a fight with Tributes and sits. And then Dan runs out, the fun begins: what happens next? And Alina took out the camera, to speak tete-a-tete. After-the-fact censorship was not any, but in filming there were moments when Alina didn’t want it to be removed. But they are few, these are things that, in principle, be repeated, but we didn’t lose much.
Danya, of course, there is a problem. Don’t even know how to show him this movie. And, naturally, he most of all wants to see him. And when I come to visit them, and he saw the trailer of the film, he says, “But you can’t cut my tantrums?”. And I said, “Dan, no, it’s all, you can’t.”
A scene from the movie “White Mama”
“Sasha I have always been given to children to remove”
– To the “White mother” you somehow crossed paths with foster parenting, volunteering, the area?
Yes. I learned from Marina Razbezhkina and Mikhail Ugarov and my course work was about adopted children, called “Temporary children”. The film is on the Internet. Also about adopted children, but a completely different story. I was 19 years old, and the first real movie that I got was also about foster children.
– You have some interest in this area?
– I think I’ve got to shoot children. Then just had to find urgently a story and shoot for the diploma. My mother tossed their friends with adopted children. They went on a journey by car, and I just went with them because I needed something to shoot. The result was a movie. Not that I’m particularly interested, just life is a lot around.
But Sasha I have always given children to take. I filmed Polina – last disabled girl that was allowed to adopt the Americans after the adoption of the “law of Dima Yakovlev”. I filmed as she is taken to America. Earlier never thought about it, but when the “White mother” began the story, I began to think: “Why is that? Why me all the time children give to shoot?”.
– The story which you are currently working, independent, or were you doing it together?
– I now shoot for a living. These stories are important, but not always what it turns out my form.
The stories I invented, Sasha and discussed, not much he liked it. And so, I’ve got a pen that after Razbezhkina have all my movies came up with Sasha, and that I can not live without Sasha to do anything.
The film is about Nemtsov (“My friend Boris Nemtsov”, approx. ed. ), too, thanks to Sasha appeared. I assembled it myself and herself removed, but if Sasha was I not sent, not acquainted with Nemtsov, I don’t know what would have happened. And then he sat on the mounting, when I mounted a larger version and shortened together with me, every gluing looked. We sat all day week all discussed it, every frame.
– “The Germans” came in the 16th year, right? And in the “White mother” shooting date is 2015. You have overlap in parallel work on these movies?
– When I removed the “White mother”, is already out “the Germans”, and I used to go to festivals sometimes. There was applied one soon. Sometimes I arrive in Moscow and say that tomorrow I’m going to Munich. And I was shy. I had to tell them that because they read about me, you know. Well, so there are no secrets. And I was very uncomfortable because I, a normal person, eating soup with them in the kitchen, and while driving around on the red carpet.
– Now, left without a pilot. What was he to you? A teacher, a mentor, someone who leads?
I don’t know, to be honest. We started to work with him in the 12th year, I was 21 now I’m 27, almost 28 already. I was taught Razbezhkina movies. And then… Loudly would be to say that he was my teacher. But, in principle, most of what I can do, I am obliged to work with Sasha. It is not what is taught, they sat down and the lecture was given. You just removed, and he directs you, and very carefully.
Alexander Rastorguev. Photo: Mitya Aleshkovskiy / Facebook
You, for example, remove the super large, the nose climb up to the man. He said, “you Know, sometimes the overall plan is much more expressive”. That’s just a phrase. You: “Wow!” Understand that now you’ll miss it. That kind of thing. He kept saying, “you Have to think when shooting. The most important thing – to think!”. It really is all very important. I can’t formulate some kind of sentence like: “It was for me so”. But I still find it difficult to understand that it is not.