BIOGRAPHY
Klim Shipenko was born in Moscow, in the family of actor and director Alexei Shipenko. Already at an early age, the young man decided for himself that he wanted to make films. “I still remember how we watched Wim Wenders’ State of Things in some uncomfortable hall, and when I’m uncomfortable, I can’t perceive anything at all. Then I thought: if I like American cinema, why am I here? I should study?” says Klim. After graduating from 10th grade, the young man went to Los Angeles on an exchange program, and already finished school there.
In the USA, Klim went to college, where he studied television, cinema and mass media. In 2002, he continued his education at the University of California at Northridge (Film Production Department).
“How to raise a million: confession [email protected] ”
Still from the film “How to Raise a Million: Confession [email protected] ”
The story about two enterprising young men was based on the book of the same name, but, according to Shipenko himself, he significantly cleaned up both the plot and the message. His heroes, while still schoolchildren, earned a lot of money on illegal porn sites, and then moved to Moscow to start a big business. But things didn't go according to plan. The young men are constantly faced with a moral choice and, until they find themselves in a cemetery surrounded by bandits, they will make the wrong decisions.
Still from the film “How to Raise a Million: Confession [email protected] ”
year 2014. Russia. Director: Klim Shipenko. Starring: Viktor Grudev, Sonya Karpunina and others
MOVIE
After graduating from film school, Klim returned to Russia: “All my scripts, which I began writing during my studies, were related to Russia or Europe. There was no writing about America. I didn’t really understand that I could say something about America that wasn’t in American Beauty. This is the kind of film I could make, but it’s already been filmed.”
Klim worked for about six months on Channel One, where he filmed a car show. In 2006, his debut film “White Night” was released. The director’s next work was the short film “Night Express” (2006), based on a story by E. Hemingway.
"Unforgiven"
In 2009, the premiere of Klim Shipenko’s crime melodrama “Unforgiven” took place, which became the director’s first full-length film. The plot centers on the story of six young people with a criminal past who meet on the same case. The owner of the establishment, Alisa, offers them good money if they avenge Vladik, the unfulfilled love of her life. But “money is clearly not easy,” Alice honestly warns...
According to critics, the film “Unforgiven” is made in the best traditions of American independent cinema and in its style is reminiscent of the early works of Quentin Tarantino and Guy Ritchie. The director admits: “During the filming of some scenes of Unforgiven, I told the actors: “Guys, your characters have seen Pulp Fiction and they like it, there is nothing wrong with quoting this film.” I watch a lot of movies and they stay in my mind one way or another. When you stand on the set and come up with ways out of the situation, you start working on instincts, and at the same time something that sits deep in the subconscious comes up. Someone will definitely call this a quote.”
"Who am I?"
In 2010, Klim shot his second full-length film - the detective story “Who Am I?”, where the main roles were played by Alexander Yatsenko and Zhanna Friske. According to the plot, the main character is found with memory loss at the Sevastopol train station. The police are trying to understand what happened to him and are starting an investigation. “This film is also about how much all people want to erase themselves, their own self. It was on this topic that I sought to talk with the audience. This, of course, could have been done without a detective plot, in some other form, even without a plot at all, but I’m interested in making films for a large number of people. I was taught that before serious topics can be addressed, the audience must be entertained. And I tried not to be pretentious, saying: “Now I will tell you my thoughts about who we are and whether we want to be who we are.” I hope viewers will think about this themselves when falling asleep at night after watching the film. If anyone is affected by these questions, it means that I managed to make more than just a detective story,” says the director.
"Salyut-7"
In October 2020, the premiere of the film “Salyut-7” took place, telling about one of the most heroic pages in the history of space exploration. The plot centers on the true story of the Salyut 7 space station, which stopped communicating in 1985, and two cosmonauts went into space to eliminate the causes of the station's breakdown.
The camera work is especially admirable. 40 minutes of screen time means weightlessness, another 20 minutes in outer space. Cameraman Sergei Astakhov managed to film the scenes in space and inside the orbital station so convincingly that the viewer gets a feeling of complete reality of what is happening.
Klim says: “In the history of cinema there are not many films about space. You can count them, well, maybe on the fingers of two hands. Therefore, every film about space in world practice somehow followed an unbeaten path, each film solved the same problems for itself. And “Interstellar”, and “Gravity”, and Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” - they were all pioneers of this road, everyone has their own, and so do we. Of course, we took into account all the experience of world cinema in space themes and filming technologies and adapted them to our production, as far as technical equipment, budget, and our creative abilities allow.”
The director assembled a magnificent ensemble of actors in the film. The film starred: Vladimir Vdovichenkov, Pavel Derevyanko, Maria Mironova, Lyubov Aksenova, Alexander Samoilenko, Vitaly Khaev, Oksana Fandera and others.
Klim Shipenko and Sofya Karpunina: a love story from the first person
To the question “What have you achieved in 2020?” these two can give the answer now, 10 months before the chimes strike. Klim’s comedy “Slave,” about the re-education of a major, exploded at the box office in January, and in February became the highest-grossing Russian film with receipts of three billion rubles. Another film by the director, the drama “Text,” collected the main prizes at the last Golden Eagle ceremony. Sophia, who also has an extensive filmography, is currently preparing her new movie and will begin filming in the summer. At the same time, she plans to implement another project - a new addition to the family: the couple, who is already raising a five-year-old daughter, Clementine, is expecting a boy.
It’s more than normal for them to be in the epi and top news portals about cinema. “We don’t feel any euphoria from success, everything is calm,” Klim shrugs. “In general, I never choose stories based on the principle of “whether it will work or not”; rather, I look at those stories that are close to me and in which I can realize my potential as a director.”
Does Sophia help you choose? Do you often consult?
We are discussing, of course. But if I feel that it’s worth shooting, then I will never back down.
The funny thing is that you had doubts about “Slave”. And I liked the script, and I immediately said: “Cool. Need to do".
At first I just didn’t know how to approach this story. But with “Text” everything was immediately clear to me; Sonya didn’t even have time to read the script, she became familiar with the plot already during the auditions.
And she played a small but bright role in the movie.
Actually, I thought about auditioning for the main character Nina, but Klim didn’t allow it. (Smiles.)
I simply told what exactly and how we would shoot (according to the plot of the film, Christina Asmus’s character Nina takes part in an explicit erotic scene. - Ed.). He asked: “Are you sure you want this?” And you said, "No."
I’m still not a professional actress (Sofia graduated from the directing department of VGIK, workshop of S. A. Solovyov and V. D. Rubinchik. - Ed.), and when you go into this profession, you are ready for certain things. I am a director and screenwriter first and foremost, I have other roles.
Not an actress, but at the same time you both managed to be in three roles: screenwriter, director and actor. Surely you met on the set?
But no, it was at a friend’s birthday.
But this friend, actor Konstantin Kryukov, has a direct connection to cinema - he and I starred together in Sergei Solovyov’s film “Odnoklassniki”, and Klim was then preparing “Loves Not Loves”, and they met at the audition. So we can say that yes, everything is through cinema. Indirectly.
Klim: T-shirt, Balenciaga (Spin4spin). Sophia: jacket, Paul Smith; dress, Iceberg; earrings, ring, Flower, Mercury; ring, Classic, Mercury; watch, Alpine Eagle, Chopard
Have you heard of each other before this meeting?
Klim first saw me on the Odnoklassniki poster. He was then looking for a girl who could play in his film “Loves Not Loves”, he was advised to call me for an audition. And he remembered: yes, that’s right, this is the girl from Solovyov’s movie.
But you didn’t end up starring in “Loves or Loves”?
The film started three years later, and Sonya was giving birth at that moment.
Before meeting Klim, I also heard about him, and, to be honest, these were not the most flattering reviews. (Laughs.)
Crowds of girls from all over Moscow hastened to give me an unflattering description...
Just crowds. When he said his name, I realized that they had told me about him, but I didn’t really remember what exactly, it was two years earlier, and I didn’t keep information about a stranger in my head. But she remembered who it was, and with a blue eye she said: “You and I have mutual acquaintances.”
When Sonya said who, I realized that the relationship would definitely not work out.
And by the way, we saw each other a year earlier, but we didn’t remember it. It was Klim’s birthday, and the first shift of filming for Odnoklassniki had begun. And after the shift, Solovyov and I and two of my classmates went to “Jean-Jacques” on Nikitsky.
Exactly. I celebrated my birthday there. I saw Solovyov, he was with company, approached him and said that he was my favorite director.
But we didn’t remember each other at all then. It was just by chance that we later found out that we were in the same place at the same time and were standing next to each other. But at Kostya’s they saw each other - and that’s all. We didn't break up.
Simply put, it was love at first sight. (Smiles.)
Klim looked like that at that party, you know: when you feel someone’s gaze, it just chills you. I only found out later that at first he was embarrassed to come up and introduce himself.
Klim: bomber jacket, Saint Laurent (Spin4spin); T-shirt, Balenciaga (Spin4spin). Sophia: jacket, Paul Smith; dress, Iceberg; earrings, ring, Flower, Mercury; ring, Classic, Mercury; watch, Alpine Eagle, Chopard
Remember your first kiss?
It happened on our third date. Klim invited me to Pyotr Fomenko’s workshop. I remember there was no intermission in the performance, and the auditorium was actually located on the stage. As luck would have it, we drank a lot of liquid in the cafe, but we were sitting so far from the exit and so close to the actors that there was no way to get out. The kiss itself happened after this “execution”: you kissed me in a taxi. And then I included this scene in my film “It’s Simple.”
But I remember everything completely differently, as if it was in a completely different place.
Well, maybe I’m already fantasizing and combining cinema and life. By the way, I was recently asked on nstagram: “Is it true that the film “It’s Simple” is the story of your relationship with Klim?” And although in fact I wrote the script even before I met Klim, I wrote the kiss scene from our story, I couldn’t restrain myself.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the marriage proposal turned out to be in the spirit of films about love.
Yes, but not quite. We were on vacation in Portugal, and I decided to be original and put the ring under the bed. He said to Sonya: “Look, there’s something lying there.” She crawled under the bed and...
You are not speaking artistically! Let me do it better. In fact, it was Klim who decided to borrow the plot from my film: in one of the scenes, the heroine found a ring under the bed. True, there it was another girl’s ring. Moreover, before the trip, I noticed that my jewelry box was missing one ring. And in the evening it appeared. Of course, I began to guess the reasons.
I burned down the office.
But I didn’t show it, and when he said to look under the bed, I, of course, understood that nothing could have fallen there. I searched and found the ring. (Laughs.)
What kind of wedding did you have?
We had a traditional wedding and not like in the movies - modestly, without frills, but with a bride price and competitions.
And without a feast - we arranged a buffet for friends in the Hermitage Garden. In the evening the accordion player was playing, people were walking, the weather was great...
Movies usually don't talk about what happened after the wedding. How did the scenario of your relationship develop?
In the next episode there was Clementine (smiles), who was born in America (the girl was born in 2014 - Ed.). Then I dropped out of life, from the profession, from everywhere. The first child is a completely different life, for which, it seems to me, it is impossible to prepare. Probably, if you grew up in a large family and helped your parents since childhood, you have an idea of what awaits you... And then after such an experience people usually say: “We’ll have one child even after 40.” (Laughs.) It took me a long time to build a balance between family and work. The main thing to remember is that you won’t achieve the ideal ratio; there will always be a feeling that you haven’t given enough. Clementine, fortunately, is an understanding girl: she knows where her parents work, she has already integrated into our regime...
And she takes off herself. (Smiles.) In “Text”...
Klim, you have a son from a previous relationship. Was it easier to enter this water the second time?
You can say that I'm already used to it, yes. In principle, it is easier for men - it is women who bear the bulk of the burden. And, unfortunately, the production of my film started right before Sonya gave birth, and I came to them after filming.
I came to install it. (Laughs.) And I got used to the idea that when a child appears, you begin to live the life of another person, putting his interests above your own. Selfishness fades into the background. I also think I learned to juggle time: five months after giving birth, I started writing a script, just for Klim, a thriller based on one book. And although it didn’t work out with that story, it’s as if I had already completed my master’s degree in screenwriting.
Sophia, when the shooting of your film begins in the summer, will you also combine work and personal?
This time nothing will stop me at all. Even triplets! I've been looking forward to this movie for so long. There are women directors who were pregnant or gave birth during production: Anna Melikyan, Oksana Karas, Valeria Gai Germanika. So anything is possible. It seems to me that women who want to do what they love simply cannot do otherwise. Otherwise, you will disappear from the radar for a long time. And modern children will probably get used to the fact that both dad and mom work constantly.
And this time I will not be thousands of kilometers away, but close by - helping with Sonya’s projects: the second, the first.
Yeah, with the “Mother and Child” project - you buy false breasts, go on maternity leave... (They laugh.)
Klim: jacket, Hermes (Spin4spin); jumper, Paul Smith. Sofia: jacket, Baum und Pferdgarten (“GUM Section”); bodysuit, Guess by Marciano; jeans, Isabel Marant (“GUM Section”); pendant, ring, bracelet, all – Classic, Mercury; watch, Alpine Eagle, Chopard
You have known each other for almost 10 years. What has changed during this time?
Well, first there was love, and now there is a deeper feeling of intimacy.
And disgust. (Laughs.)
In short, an absolutely related feeling.
By the way, I agree. We turn into relatives. In a good way. Tenderness and romance also remain. You seem to stop looking at some things with an inspired, loving gaze, but you also don’t take a completely critical view of what you see. It’s like with a child - some kind of unconditional love appears, forgiving in some ways.
Because you chose your loved one?
Yes, and you accept it. Where to go? After all, when we fall in love, we tend to idealize our beloved. And then the hormones subside, we see the real picture - and accept it. Or we don't accept it. But if we accept, then everyone is a relative.
With this understanding, do you often quarrel?
I would like it to be less frequent. (Laughs.)
On the other hand, what is considered frequent? How many times a week is this? Per month? For example, I like a lot of things to be my way, and in general, like a real director, I am somewhat despotic by nature. Making compromises is always difficult, but we try.
Yes, we make compromises when we can. I have. (Laughs.) And we often argue about work or some pleasant topics - for example, about the name of the unborn child. But this is a pleasant debate, and it will most likely be resolved on the spot. A boy is born, we look at him and say: “So here he is...”
Does the attention that came your way after the success of “Slave” hinder you or help you? After all, you, Klim, are now a billionaire director.
But it’s not the director who gets the billions. I don't feel money or success. And nothing has changed in film production - a big producer has not yet come to me with the words: “Film what you want.” Everything is fine, let's move on.
Producer: Olga Zakatova, Style: Olesya Borovik/Anna Guseva team, Coordinator: Gleb Vinogradov, Makeup: Sofia Matveenko, Hair: Liliya Aminova
celebrity couples
INTERVIEW
On the peculiarities of American film production
“Independence is the main feature. Despite the fact that American cinema is an absolutely non-author production. I don’t take Rodriguez or Soderbergh. There are not fifty people on the site, but two hundred, and each is responsible for one thing. The third props assistant, for example, is behind the curtains, and he will not deal with the glass.”
“In the USA they teach crafts, but here we teach people to express themselves and prepare authors. But you cannot make a person an author, you can only direct. Apparently, we are directed only in one direction. But in America they teach skills and professions. And be prepared for different situations.”
“Hollywood is a very tough system. And already at school, students are told: “If your first film fails, then nothing else will happen to you.” You can express yourself, but everything is very pragmatic: they won’t give you money.”
About creativity
“Being clear, accessible and at the same time interesting is much more difficult than being complex, confusing and incomprehensible to anyone.”
“I love making movie attractions. In the absence of large budgets, this is not so easy, but these are the realities of the Russian market. Moreover, it must be taken into account that the viewer is not watching the first action film and not the first romantic comedy. When you make a genre film, you, one way or another, compete with your predecessors, play by the rules of the genre, which are known not only to you, but also to those who will watch your film. In Russia, many filmmakers simply don’t give a damn about this. They lure people into an action movie and sell it on arthouse.”
“I like to communicate with a wide audience when the film lives and is watched. I’m not interested in auteur arthouse cinema, but in auteur audience cinema, so to speak.”
Based on materials from the sites: filmpro.ru, kinopoisk.ru, kino-teatr.ru, kinoart.ru, kinote.info, mestovstrechi.es, proficinema.ru, ok-magazine.ru.
