Lunch with Before Love

Interview with Igor Kovalyov, director of Before Love

 Can you tell us about your animation style? What led you to choose this field?
Of course, since my childhood, I have painted a lot. There were no foreign animated films on Soviet TV, so I enjoyed old Soviet animated films. When I took on animation in 1972, I was dramatically influenced by the animated film The Second-Class Passenger by the Croatian filmmaker Borivoj Dovnikovic-Bordo. Later on I saw Priit Pärn’s Triangle and it impressed me so much that I took after him – you can see it in my film’s graphics.

 What motivated you to tackle solitude?
A really big percentage of people are lonely nowadays, and often they don’t even realize it. I’ve always been interested in the fates of these people, that’s why I have made a film about it.

 What are your cinematic influences?
Eventually, I got influenced by live-action films only. First of all, I was dramatically influenced by Robert Bresson and Jean-Luc Godard. Today my favorite filmmakers are Bruno Dumont, Michael Haneke, Jia Zhangke (especially his Still Life), Kôhei Oguri and Apichatpong Weerasethakul.

 Any cinematic coups de cœur in the past year you’d like to tell us about?
I can’t recall any coups de cœur in 2016. Maybe I just haven’t seen many 2016 films yet.

 If you’ve already been to Clermont-Ferrand, could you share with us an anecdote or story from the festival? If not, what are your expectations for this year?
I was at Clermont-Ferrand once when I was in the jury. We had a lot of work watching the main competition programmes, but I remember very well the dinner we were invited at. The place was marvellous, but food and wine were just stunning, real coups de cœur.

 Are any other releases scheduled?
At the moment I’m working on a full-length animated film My Cool Dad, where I’m contributing as an adviser. It will be released in Autumn 2017.

Before Love is being shown in International Competition I4.