I direct films the way I run, lift, sail and climb—by staying in control under pressure, sometimes going with the weather, sometimes heading upwind. Always trusting the crew with my life, as they do with theirs.
Cinema is a team sport played in a corridor, a movement towards the viewer. I give the exact dimensions of the architecture and navigation, but the team storms forward as a force we could never attain solo.
The results always surprise me but stay in the coherent focus I set at the start: question the world around and inside us, prep for the worst, give space for talent, provoke questions from the audience (sometimes leaving me speechless with a microphone), shape new perspectives, and even change people’s lives, especially for those on the crossroads. And never leave anyone unmoved: yes, my work polarizes and I embrace the fears of the box office, experiment with norms, and take risks to deliver originality while adhering to timeless values of beauty, clarity, quality, and rhythm.
Cinema represents the pinnacle of my artistic journey, where 28 years of photography, 24 years of writing, and 26 years of design converge. And my early Soviet musical education suddenly becomes the soundscapes critics remark again and again.
It’s my still photography in motion, my writing transcending into the visual, and a lifelong passion (and practice) of music. They fuse into films that are not only visually captivating — you can print out any random frame and send it to a local gallery — but also aurally, intellectually and emotionally authentic, rare and engaging.
Because I’m free of cinematic dogma, I refactor excess cultural code other directors drag from film school, leaving only pure visual storytelling—light, composition, movement, and sound.
I favor a fast and light approach to filmmaking, where we question assumptions from the start — why struggle to fit Russian dialogue in 12 pt Courier developed in Hollywood when we can use collaborative wikis? Why limit our financing to the European way or the American highway? The result: lower budgets with quality I’d asked from the camera engineers (when others were too afraid to ask). Favoring location work and available light, I bring in ideas from other industries to capture authentic moments — not staged approximations of reality.
I’ve led productions across five continents, in cities and remote locations, with multinational crews who don’t always share a language—but always share a purpose. I work within constraints—time, budget, location—but never at the cost of vision.
Every production is an equation: how much time, how much light, how much movement before the moment is gone? With a journalistic background, I’m always open for the unexpected because our team is light, fast, and precise. More of a special forces unit than a battalion. We’re rolling while others are still ‘blocking.’ Because I can. Because I multi-cam. Whether handheld, on a Technocrane, or strapped into a Steadicam for the whole day.
We start the day with hatha yoga. Yes, the whole team. It brings us closer, flattens hierarchies, builds discipline, and sets the tone for the day. We even have an Olympic bar and plates cart we roll on set — fewer back aches, happier people, better outcomes, less to pay for health insurance.
A steady hand, a clear mind, a clean frame. I operate the A camera because I want to be with my talent, not in some cozy video village.
Do people complain? Yes. But even years later, they recall with nostalgia the unique Soviet-style rigor I bring and the Swiss precision I pull out of each of us to grow and contribute to something larger than us: the history of cinema and advertising.
I’m not just your regular director. I’m also a producer who’s used to hearing "no"… A 2-letter word I counter with a “yes, if we do it this way”. How often do you talk to 3-letter agencies to get a permit? Who said Le Plan Comptable Général and GAAP rules don’t align? I’m in Cannes for the Marché du Film and in LA for the American Film Market. International deals is what I eat for breakfast. Because I’ve been through business school, co-founded several companies and understand logistics, design, sound, and editing by doing all of them for 28 years. With one goal: bring the film to screen.
Because, after all, vita is indeed brevis, but ars is indeed longa. Especially when we’re shooting a series.
That’s why I don’t have a showreel — you can start watching any of my feature films and I vouch for any random moment you click on the timeline, regardless of when we put the film in distribution.
Call me now or in 10 years — I’ll still be making the impossible happen. Not because it made sense on paper. But because we made it real.
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