- Our first question is the most important one, about BIHEPPI. Will there be a second season?

- Will be. He is now, so to speak, at the writing stage. Will not be released this year for sure.

- Your previous series, Better Than People, bought the streaming giant Netflix. What do you think, what is it interesting for a foreign viewer to and can BIHEPPI count on such a fate?

- I don’t know if BIHEPPI can count on it, but now they are selling it more on various foreign platforms.

It's just that Better Than People has a universal story. When we shot it, we didn’t think about any platforms, but we definitely made a movie that could exist in any city in the world. We were looking for actors with a universal character. 

Behappi, after all, is a story with cultural features. Here is the main character - a surgeon from the United States, who returns to Russia. There are certain things that are not known, say, to European or American viewers. And they may not be interested. And they are attached to us.

- If you read the comments on the series, you can see that some viewers found in it an ordinary everyday comedy, while others found a complex story with philosophical ideas. What is “BIHEPPI”, first of all, for you?

- You know, I liked this project from the very beginning because it ...

This series is about people who seem to have everything for happiness. Well, so nominal: let's say each of them can afford the latest tricked-out version of the iPhone. But no one is happy. And they are in search of this happiness.

All lines, all characters are quite infantile, and this characterizes the current state of things. My generation is growing up later than the generation of my parents. And the generation that is younger than me also grows up later. But this is precisely from the point of arranging life: they seem to be able to do something, they are already at work, but unhappy, completely lost.

Therefore, if in general, for me it is a story about the infantility of the characters. And if in particular, I really like the line of Arkasha, the main character. Because he has the most powerful development there (I won’t say more, otherwise it will be a spoiler). Slowly themes open up (albeit with ease, they open up in a comedic way) that touch upon issues that few people talk about. If you don’t reveal it much, it’s a matter of spiritual balance, balance.

- Were you interested in exploring this topic?

- Yes, because in today's realities, few people shoot about it. Probably, in the world practice there are already more films about psychological health, but we haven’t made any films about this topic. Not the mainstream.

And I like that Ira Arkadyeva - in fact, the author of this work - touches on issues that are close to her and me.

  • © Photo from the personal archive of Andrei Dzhunkovsky

- Speaking of characters. They are all very bright, different, with their own stories. Do any of them have real prototypes?

- Yes. Arkasha has several prototypes. Actually, Ira Arkadyeva wrote it from several people. One of them is surgeon Vladimir Nosov, a cool gynecologist and oncologist, the best in Russia. My friend. Some things were written from him, from his stories.

And the other is a doctor from the same clinic. A few more characters. Ira and the co-authors of the script, Arkady Vodakhov, Anastasia Volkova, spent a lot of time with them - talked about various medical cases and other things.

What I like about Ira (we already worked with her, she was one of the co-authors of Sweet Life) - she takes a lot from real life. That is, many of the stories she wrote are based on real things. They are so absurd that it’s impossible to even invent them, you always think that this does not happen! And that makes the script more interesting.

- Here “BIHEPPI” goes on the air. In your opinion, are there any fundamental differences between the series, which are created specifically for the Internet and especially for television? Maybe themes, dynamics ...

- It seems to me that series for platforms are bolder - there are just a little more opportunities for creativity from the very beginning.

In general, now many producers want to work with interesting, unusual ideas. On the platforms, in fact, they run in and watch how they shoot. And some of them then, perhaps, do not even reach the TV - this format does not take root there.

Here, in this regard, more creative freedom is basic. Plus, there’s still such a thing as a time frame. That is, at the TV channel the series should last, for example, 50-52 minutes. The platforms do not have such troubles, you shoot, if you want, a little more. I want to - a little less.

Of course, shooting is more interesting for the platform. In terms of content, everything is possible everywhere, a good project will sound everywhere.

- That is, the Internet is closer to you, both as a viewer and as a professional.

- To me, as a spectator, - yes. I don’t even have a television antenna. All that is needed, I look on the Internet. And so, probably 15 years already.

“You stopped watching TV before it became mainstream.”

- Yes, I don’t see much point in it. Now you absorb information from your devices, look at your convenience: in the subway, on the phone. This is today's reality.

- When you returned from the USA to Russia and started shooting here, did you notice something interesting? Any features of work here and there?

- In Russia, I did not immediately begin to shoot. First, I worked as an editor, editing director, then - as a second director. And then he took up directing directly.

After the fall of the Union, the industry weakened, the level of organization subsided. Our organization is a little “Russian maybe.” Only the last ten years, probably, everything began to change. Good companies have appeared: the same Good Story Media, which makes “BIHEPPI” and “Sweet Life”.

But in principle, in the profession there are many people who do not need to be in it. And there are few people who have enough in this area of ​​education. The industry has not crystallized yet. But she’s cool, moving in a cool direction!

  • © Photo from the personal archive of Andrei Dzhunkovsky

- I know that as a second director you also worked in Kazakhstan, in Lebanon, in China, in Italy. Can you talk about this experience?

- I went to all these countries with Russian production as a second director, to shoot ads with local teams.

Of course, I want to say that everything is different everywhere. For example, Lebanese are very similar to us. Partly as if the same "by chance", somewhere disorderly. But absolutely friendly and creatively interesting.

The Chinese are superorganized. And without any trade unions, without everything. They are very clear, everything just flies there. There are a lot of trade unions in the USA and South Africa, and therefore it does not matter to them whether they have removed, not removed - lunch should be scheduled.

We have reached a certain level of organization in production, but we still do not have such strict regulations. Because production has not yet settled down. But the fact that it is not there is sometimes even a plus, because the regulations can kill creativity.

- Where did you like to shoot the most?

- I liked it very much in Lebanon. Atmosphere. Beirut is one of the most amazing cities on Earth. He's just freaky. The whole country, the country is in constant concern, or perhaps because they are being bombed periodically. But they are very lively, inspired, joyful, love life. Awesome.

In general, this is a very cool place, and it worked well there too. Everywhere is good.

- How now, without filming, your days go by? What do you do in self-isolation?

- I'm preparing a project. First, my operator, Ilya Ovsenyev, and I shot a pilot for 1-2-3 PRODUCTION and the PREMIER platform. Now, on a remote site, post-production was being completed. And we are developing eight episodes that we will shoot at the end of the year.

- And you did not think to do anything in the screenlife format? Just right now.

- Well, it's not mine. I don’t see the point.

- How, in your opinion, will the situation in the field of filmmaking change after self-isolation ends? Will there be a global crisis, will production volumes decrease?

- Cinema will continue to be removed. The question, of course, is what will happen to the economy. But I know that in the film industry everyone is at a low start, ready to shoot, go out. Someone is already filming.

This is such a thing ... it's hard to say, no one knows. It seems to me that the groups will become smaller. And I hope the topics are more relevant.

- When, in your opinion, everything will return to square one?

- Fully - in a year and a half.

- Are there those in the industry who have won or will still benefit from this whole story?

- Netflix, Amazon ...

In general, all the same in life it’s not just like that. Even this pandemic is for some reason given to humanity. Each of her must make some kind of conclusion. And if we do not get out of this with a new awareness of ourselves, our views on things, on humanity, then no one won. But I hope we get out.