To the art school I came as an overgrown girl. This proved to be timely and safely. “If you’re afraid – do not do, and do if you are not afraid” (I was afraid). So I joined the Film Institute – in principle – the most western educational venue in the Soviet era. And it turned out, I love movies. I love finding plastic forms in human characters. I love sculpture and architecture, space and light! All of this was given to me by my profession… was falling right into my hands. All the worldly myths in the “Prayer of the Blessed Bird” by Murat Bekshimbetov, “Kirgizfilm,” as the author and director, in Donald Bisset’s fairy tales, in “Carmen,” in Vonnegut fatasies (unfortunately, not embodied in the movies) – all filled me during my college years.

It also became clear, I love puppet animation. United in it are the character, plastic, and light. Soon I started to work at the “Screen” doing the films of Russian classics for children and Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales: “Pudya,” directed by Inna Vorobyova and “Nightingale” directed by Maya Buzinov and Joseph Doukshi.

Then my affair began with the “Christmas Films” in conjunction with the BBC. We created The Taming of the Shrew, Old Testament and The Canterbury Tales

We started to believe in ourselves. And, most importantly, our producers, Chris Gray and Elizabeth Babakhina showed faith in our knack. And they had involved us in creating Mahabharata. The producers were intelligent and large-scale professionals, and the topic was riveting. A great deal of preparatory work was done, read, studied, painted before we learn that the funds were no longer there. The project died.

Soon after we made our first steps in the 3D animation studio called “Classic”. The studio had created The Moon-Mars in which the misery of Soviet life, deep love, and whimsical fantasy were miraculously intertwined. It was written by Valery Pugashkin, a very special person, and directed by Vlad Barbe, a great experimenter. The result was a gentle movie.

Next was “Soyuzmultfilm” company, with which I happened to work on two films: The History of One Frog’s Love – a fairy tale with a modern twist, directed by Natalia Dabija; and “Menu,” traveling with Andrey Usachev’s world of songs and directed by my favorite Aida.

And now I illustrate “Spark,” with an eye to the great 3D movie, of course. Everything an artist can dream is in this book: the amazing worlds and unusual characters. And the author, Asya Pekurovskaya, is inexhaustible. She is soaring in the clouds herself and draws others into her eminence.

Other Project Participants