Breakfast with Mama

Interview with Anastasia Borisova, director of Mama

What was the appeal in the subject matter?
This is my course film. We had a documentary block at the Moscow Film School and were taught veracity in fiction films. I was interested in migrants, nonresidents who live in Moscow, probably because I myself moved to Moscow from Yakutia. I also wanted Galina Tikhonova to play in the film. She was from Yakutia, like me. I knew that she was an amazing actress and also lived in Moscow. So the idea of the film arose.

What do you hope the audience will get out of the film?
I hope the audience will see a piece of real life in modern Russia. And that people have similar problems.

Can you tell us a bit about you as a filmmaker and your ambitions for the future?
I graduated from the Moscow Film School in 2019, we shot my diploma film this summer and are in post-production now. I am writing a new script and looking for new stories.

Would you say that the short film format has given you any particular freedom?
Yes, for me the short film format is an opportunity to learn.

What do you consider your cinematographic references?
The Dardenne brothers.

Mama is part of International Competition I13.