Sergey Miroshnichenko: Stifle Your Envy!

On November 5, as part of the XVIII International Film Festival “WON TOGETHER”, a master class by the outstanding documentarian, producer and teacher of VGIK Sergei Miroshnichenko was held at the University College of Economics and Technology of Sochi State University.

Very soon, a whole decade will pass since the legendary Winter Olympic Games (2014, Sochi), which not only radically changed the infrastructure of the resort city for the better, but also made an invaluable contribution to the development of the state in the international arena. The footage of the Olympic Bear crying at the closing ceremony is forever inscribed in the history of modern Russia as one of the brightest moments of the decade.

“What has happened in your city is one of the most important achievements of Russia in the 21st century. The Olympics is an event that concentrates the entire country,” - Sergei Miroshnichenko rightly notes. It was the film by the famous Director “Rings of the World” (2015) about one of the largest Olympic Games in history that became the main subject of discussion at the meeting.

Having demonstrated a number of episodes from the documentary, Sergei Miroshnichenko shared with the participants of the master class interesting facts about the creation of the project, and spoke about the large number of difficulties that the film crew had to overcome every day. It is worth noting that in “Rings of the World” there is not a single frame from the television broadcast. It is impressive that 18 cameramen and 6 directors worked on the film at the same time, who later became famous filmmakers, masters of their craft, who achieved impressive heights. Using their example, Sergei Miroshnichenko showed very young college specialists the importance of the will to live and self-confidence: “Set yourself super goals. Look for people who believe in you."

The master of Russian documentary cinema paid special attention to talented athletes - four-time Olympic biathlon champion Daria Domracheva, snowboarder Yuri Podladchikov, who defeated the world's strongest professional Shaun White, as well as the brilliant figure skating duo Tatyana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov. It’s safe to say that the spine-chilling episodes with the heroes of the Olympics charged the children with the spirit of victory for the year ahead, while the director of “Rings of the World” and the festival’s guest of honor reminded everyone of a long-forgotten truth: “Sport is always against war. Any division is a deviation from morality.” Indeed, even the title of the picture refers us to the unshakable humanistic values - “RINGS OF THE WORLD” ...

Loud applause from the female half of the hall was caused by the demonstration of impressive footage of women's hockey. The passionate confrontation between the USA and Canada teams once again proved that courage is often closely intertwined with braids. And in a heated battle on the ice, the true female essence clearly appears, the qualities of which are very accurately noted by Sergei Miroshnichenko: “Women in Russia and the world are now becoming stronger both in sports and in art. This is manifested in their character, this is their will to win, this is determination and this already becomes a character trait.”

The master of documentary filmmaking not only introduced Sochi college students to the wonderful world of non-fiction cinema, but also raised the burning question of the moral structure of modern society, addressing parting words to a generation just beginning to live:

“We need to love and value our people. It is necessary to promote leaders from these people and help them to go ahead, not envy, not destroy - they are very much needed. Stifle envy in yourself, this is the most serious sin. Destroy it in yourself, it is because of it that Russia suffers. If you drive past a beautiful house, you shouldn’t envy the person. We need to build our own! Don’t envy gifted people, remember that they promote us too.”

Sergei Miroshnichenko's master class acquired an extremely life-affirming character due to the openness of the director and his willingness to share his experience. And although the hour and a half meeting flew by irreversibly quickly, a warm trace and confidence remained in heart that the “Russian documentary” (and not only) still has everything ahead, because, as one of the heroes of the film by Sergei Miroshnichenko said: “Russians in Russia do not fall".

The organizers of the XVIII International Film Festival “WON TOGETHER” are the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly and the Eurasian Academy of Television and Radio. The festival is held with the support of the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the Administration of the City of Sochi.

Author: Anastasia Leonova