Interview with 'Oregu' Filmmaker Marina Ivaničeva

Photo by Eriks Aleinikovs

Marina Ivaničeva is a Russian Filmmaker and the daughter of Olegs Regzdins, the subject of her poetic documentary Oregu. The documentary looks at Oleg’s life as a Russian man in Latvia, following the Japanese culture, philosophy and martial arts, through the directorial eye of his daughter. Oregu looks at Oleg’s relationship and history with martial arts, which includes the Soviet Union’s ban of martial arts and how it affected him. Oleg practices a variety of different Martial Art styles including Kenjutsu, Karatedo, Shotokan and many more.

What sparked your interest in filmmaking?

My grandad has performed in the Mikhail Chekhov Riga Russian Theatre since 1967, so I spent the majority of my childhood behind the curtains and on various film sets. Thus, the interest in theatre and cinema was inevitable, it has always been a part of my life.

How would you describe your filmmaking style?

I am a great fan of Soviet Montage and Russian cinema, and I also consider myself a Russian filmmaker even though I live abroad. I pay very special attention to visual continuity and rhythm, I don’t like to experiment and to break the rules, and I am mainly driven by the emotion when I tell the story.

What was your experience like directing Oregu?

It was very tough, as it was the first-ever experience directing a film. First and foremost, I am an editor, which helped during the shoot, as I knew exactly what and in what order I want to see on the screen. Being a director was a new level of filmmaking experience for me, and I realised it takes a strong personality, flexibility, persistence and confidence to do it. I am very thankful to my filming crew, as they were aware I had never directed a film before and were very considerate and patient. Hence, directing part of Oregu during the shoot was a collaborative process between myself, my cameraman and the actor. It was also essential for me that we could all communicate in our mother tongue – even though I am very fluent in English, it would have felt 100% different had I been with a foreign crew. With Oregu I finally felt I had the right opportunity to express myself as a filmmaker.

What made you choose to have your father as the subject for your documentary?

I got involved with documentary films during my Filmmaking Masters course in Wales, and what excited me the most was the fact that there are so many amazing untold personal stories around us. Oregu was the graduation film and I initially knew that I want to film in Russian back home. The idea to make a documentary about my father was accidental, but turned out to be promising – the subject was there, the story was there, the props were there. My main filmmaking principle is ‘the simpler, the better’- I only captured my father’s real-life on screen, but presented it in a cinematic way.

What is your relationship with martial arts?

My dad was, indeed, keen on introducing me to martial arts when I was a child, but I didn’t have much interest apart from watching his performance. When I was older, we had a few Iaido (Japanese art of drawing the long sword) sessions together, but I already got bored as he was tying my obi belt. I am very much interested in the aesthetics and philosophy of martial arts, but I never had enough patience to practice.

Growing up, did your father’s relationship with martial arts have an influence on you?

My father’s relationship with the martial arts is very intimate and private, it always felt as being a separate part of his life, where it is only him and martial arts one to one. Even though he would have loved me doing martial arts, and we tried to practice together, as soon as he saw I do not have the spark, he never pushed me to do it. What I admire the most about my dad is this fantastic dedication to the craft, it is very similar to what I feel about filmmaking.  

Did the making of the documentary affect your relationship with your father, did it give you a better understanding of him?

I am very much like my dad  - meticulous, hypercritical and capricious.  It was challenging to have two strong personalities on set, mainly because of the crucial director-actor relationship. We had totally different opinions on certain things, such as location choices, camera angles or shot choices. The most important thing we both improved in our relationship is the ability to compromise -  not to surrender because both are very stubborn, but to make deliberate and fair decisions to achieve excellent results. We would never settle for anything less than perfect.

How was your experience of making the film in Latvia?

It was brilliant. Filming in the native land was not only accessible but very inspirational, so tried to make the most of locations and settings available. It was indeed challenging in the beginning, as I only had a month of pre-producing a shoot abroad while I was in the UK. It was crucial to make sure everything is well-planned, timed and organized in advance, so I was very strict with schedules. Thanks to this, three days of the shoot went 100% according to plan.

Can you talk about the locations used for the film, such as the rooftop and the seaside and why you chose them?

I wanted to make the most of being in Latvia. I knew for sure where I could film without obtaining permissions, which are almost always necessary when working in the UK. I initially had three locations in mind – the seaside, because I wanted to locate my father in a tranquil, but quiet and spacious natural environment; training room indoors to dilute the visuals with more action and confined space; and lastly, I needed an empty, abandoned building.

I was open to seaside location choices, so it was up to the cameraman to decide where he was most comfortable filming, and he suggested pier in Mangalsala. The place gets quite busy during the day because of the beautiful views, but as were filming very early in the morning, there were only a few people walking dogs.

Finding an abandoned building was the most challenging part, especially when planning from abroad. I was after long and empty corridors, grey stone walls and darkness. I still can’t explain creative reasons for wanting such location; moreover, my father got quite upset when I said I wanted to place Samurai wearing ancient Ō-yoroi armour in such a miserable environment. To me, however, it was a symbol of freedom, intimacy, wisdom and power – I wanted my father to practice his martial arts in quiet, where nobody can see or feel him.  There was also this element of solitude – not to represent loneliness, but rather a special closeness and relationship with the craft.

I did extensive online research, as there are a few groups in town that make a list of such locations, but where we wanted to film at first was unfortunately under security, and we were refused access. I finally found pamesta.lv, which translates as Abandoned Latvia (Pamestā Latvija (Abandoned Latvia), is an online journal about urban exploration in Latvia and Baltic States. Our mission is to explore and document man-made abandoned locations and to share their stories with you – from Facebook). I got in contact with them and inquired about potential sites, and was suggested an abandoned hotel out of town. I and dad drove there to see the building, and even though I had something slightly different in mind, the place absolutely shocked me. It was very atmospheric and had a special personality and feel. I later also found that apparently it was built in the 90s (the glory days of crime) by two men. One of them was killed at the very beginning of the project, and another one was murdered later. The hotel is empty now, not even occupied by the homeless, but sometimes used by airsofters. Made of red bricks, with empty window frames and broken glass here and there, plenty of old car tires and dust all over the ground. It was very miserable and dull, but it was very tranquil.

Only during the film shoot, as we were exploring the building, we found that there was access to upstairs, so we filmed on the roof. The drone scene filmed from the top with shadows moving around is my favourite in the entire film.

Photo by Eriks Aleinikovs

How did you choose which archival footage to use for the documentary? 

Videocassettes were extremely popular back in the past, and my dad liked documenting his martial arts journey. I love the feel of archival footage mixed with digital material – it visually tells the story in a more emotional and effective way than just listening to the protagonist. My father had to digitalize a few of the old cassettes, and I was supplied with hours of footage to look through. I played the files, and whenever something clicked inside me, I’d make a note that it is the part I want to include in the film. 

What was your favourite part of working on Oregu?

I really enjoyed the pre-production, as excitement for the film shoot kept building up every day. It was the first big personal project, so I was looking forward to implementing my ideas in real life. During the film shoot, I most enjoyed the last day filming in the abandoned building – by then we had already established excellent teamwork and could understand each other without talking. It also felt very surreal being by ourselves in such a huge ghost hotel and having a fully dressed armed samurai by our side, but I could finally allow my father to take over the creative side of the film and demonstrate what he likes the most.

What were some of the lessons you learned, while working on Oregu?

Planning is 90% of the film’s success – if your budget, shooting schedules, location releases and call sheets are well-organized, then the film shoot is guaranteed to go well. And you must always have to have a B plan and be prepared that things can still go wrong. On the very first day, we were planning to start filming early in the morning to capture the sunrise, but it suddenly began to rain as we arrived. I wasn’t ready for this and became so upset that almost cancelled the day. Thanks to the crew, who were willing to film even under the rain, we went back and tried to stick to the shot plan as much as we could. Even though the result was different from what we planned, it still is a beautiful result. 

What do you hope audiences take away from watching Oregu?

Everyone’s story is extraordinary and deserves to be told. We don’t realize how many amazing people live around us. By looking at my Caucasian friendly-looking father, would you ever think that he is more Japanese that some of the native Japanese people are?

Photo from Marina Ivaničeva’s personal archive

Do you have any upcoming projects that we should look out for?

I am currently in the middle of my PhD degree in Film Editing, so I am 100% focused on studies. However, I work on various commercial and business projects to expand my portfolio, and I will be soon presenting myself as a freelance videographer (working on the website at the moment)

Lastly, how has your experience been with Fighting Spirit Film Festival?

It was a pleasure to be a part of such welcoming and friendly community, I feel all participants received very special mention and attention from the committee, and I was also amazed to see such a variety of concepts and stories dedicated to Martial Arts told in completely different ways!

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Speed Round. Pick one film for each category.

1.     What is your favourite childhood film? – The Diamond Arm (1969) by Leonid Gaidai

2.     What is your guilty pleasure film? – The Twilight Saga

3.     What is an underrated film that you think deserves more attention? – Les Choristes (2005) by Christophe Barratier

4.     What is your favourite film by your favourite filmmaker? – Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future (1973) by Leonid Gaidai

5.     What is your favourite current film? – Schindler’s List (1993) by Steven Spielberg