Update: Dreamover won the Grand Jury Prize at Dances with Films 24.
Q&A with Roman Olkhovka Writer/Director/Actor Dreamover.
It’s almost impossible to write a review of Roman Olkhovka’s directorial debut, DREAMOVER. Intricately constructed, sure-handed and subtle, the movie is a careful examination of love lost and found, and explores what one could do if given the chance to change their past to affect their present. Beyond that, anything else we might say would spoil the film. We’ve seen other reviews stumble over it, and we’ve even gotten advice on how to watch it.
So we’re not going to review the film but rather talk to the writer, director and star, who we’ve talked to from Moscow as he was unable to travel to the USA for the American premiere of the movie. DREAMOVER promises to bring Olkhovka’s talents to the attention of US audiences in a disarming yet impressive way.
Tell us how you first become interested in filmmaking. What has your journey in filmmaking looked like?
Oh, actually I never ever dreamed to be a filmmaker until I was around 30 years old. What I was interested always was to be was a rock-star, composing and performing my own songs and rocking big stadiums or at least small clubs around the world. The thing is that my uncle gave me some lessons about how to use a camera and how to shoot when I was 12-14 years old, but I never ever thought about making movies myself. I loved movies, I watched a lot of them, but my main passion was music and all of my efforts targeted it.
One day I just decided to try to shoot a music video for my song on my own – to promote my music. And suddenly I liked it a lot. Then I shot another one, and another, and so on. My friends told me, that my music videos are much better than my songs, but I preferred not to listen to them and was still trying to write songs, recording albums and making concerts.
A little bit later I thought – maybe I can make some money shooting and editing something. And a tried to get a job in the videography industry and finally got it, using my music videos as my portfolio. I shot a lot of different things during those six years of working at the video production company – corporate events, birthday parties, a little bit of advertising and weddings for sure. I truly made my hands strong in shooting and editing while working there. Also I met my future producer and camera operator there. I slowly started understanding that maybe we can make some kind of movie. We started from 48 hours short contests on 48filmproject.com, then shot a new type of music video “Demian Grace: Saving Love,” looking and made like microfilm. It got some success, so I decided to start working on my very first script for our feature Dreamover. I was 31 years old that time.
You wrote and directed your debut feature length project Dreamover. Where did the concept for the film come from?
This will NOT sound very original, but it came from one of my dreams ☺. One summer night I had a really vivid and deep dream about one girl I’d loved, and after waking up I lay in my bed and tried to recover that elusive feeling of being with her. And being a mathematician by education first, I was thinking about a possibility of making some device which could make me to see that dream again and again.
After some googling and making some research I decided to stop that type of thinking and tried to sleep again hoping to see that girl once again but suddenly I thought: “Hey, sure – you can’t invent this device but you definitely can make a movie about it”. That was a start of the Dreamover concept.
Also I hope and will be much happy, if someone finally will invent a real working neuro-resonator device for playing some pleasant (or not) dreams while you’re sleeping after a long and hard working day. I really think it could be done in the near future—saying that as a mathematician and not an engineer.
What was your biggest challenge while working on the film?
Since our entire team worked without getting paid, the biggest problem for me was to gather them in one place and at the same time and also to get good weather for filming. It was really difficult at times, and I also decided to play the lead role myself to reduce the number of people I had to gather for filming.
And of course being director and actor simultaneously was the second big challenge for me. It was really hard to concentrate on different things and to switch between them on set. I don’t think that I will repeat that in my next movie, but who knows…?
What was your favorite moment on set?
When you are the director, actor and director of photography and technician on set, you are always busy as hell during each filming session, which is often has strict time limitations due to rented location or weather conditions. Therefore you are just doing your job(s), constantly having your hands and mind busy, resolving little and big issues and tasks, so you just can’t always see what is actually going on the set. You just can’t say if you are happy or sad about it – you are just making your work without emotions.
But suddenly in the middle of the shooting, you take a little pause in that and look around you – and you see your friends, helping you to make a film and suddenly finding them really happy with what they are making right now. You just can breathe in that kind and good atmosphere, which everyone is surrounded by. And if it’s so you just know that everything is going the right way and all your worries are leaving you for that really short moment. And after that, you are just diving again into all of your tasks and again disabling all the emotions that surround you.
So those were my favorite moments on every set we were on during two years of Dreamover shooting sessions.
What do you want audiences to take away from Dreamover?
I don’t want to look like some kind of old moralist, discussing some eternal values here, because honestly I conceived and shot this film for only one person – the girl, which I dreamed about at the start of it. And I didn’t and still don’t think about any other audience, except her.
But I’m sure that everyone will get his own special thing from our movie. I believe, that really good movies give you a lot of things, and you just choose the right ones for you from them. Maybe we’ve succeeded in creating that kind of movie. But maybe not. Let the audience decide.
What was the hardest part about writing a feature length film?
I’ve already told you about my own catharsis during working on this film. So for me the hardest part in writing Dreamover’s script turned out a need to change yourself during working on it. It was like a kind of psychotherapy for me. The man, who started that script and the man who finished it are two different people. I mean – different versions of me, maybe. I really was need either to make this film or to go to a therapist. I chose to make a film.
So, yes – something changed even during finishing the script and changed during filming it. And mainly it was me. But we are all constantly changing.
What are some of your current influences?
Actually right now I’m inspired by one old book, which I read when I was sixteen. It’s a famous book in Russian by of one of the famous Russian fantastic writers. There is almost nothing about love and relationship in it; I’ve tired of those themes after working on such melodramatic movie as Dreamover.
And right now I’m dreaming about making movie from that book, for resting from love themes and exploring instead a world of green screens and CGI SFX shots.
What’s next for you?
So continuing the previous topic, I would like to make a big epic film adaptation of my childhood’s favorite fantastic book. I even started working on script for it. But I understand that it will be hard to find money and producers who will believe in me enough to entrust me making such a big film.
Therefore I guess I need to make something less ambitious, but still have no good ideas about it – only several drafts in my head. Let’s see together what will be next!
Do you have any advice for fellow new filmmakers?
Sure – always do what you really want and try to not do all the rest. I mean, if you want to enter film-school – enter it, if you want to make movie – make it. And otherwise – if you do not want go to film-school – do not go to it and if you feel, that you don’t want to make a movie – don’t make it!
And also read good books, and I mean not the books about film-making but just good books – classical mainly. My favorite for example is “War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy. I’ve read it three times already and am planning to do it again soon. I think I learned film-making mainly from it. Good classical literature will always teach you not only how to tell good stories, but how to think in terms of good stories.
After DANCES WITH FILMS, Dreamover will play next at the FESTIVAL OF CINEMA NYC at REGAL UA MIDWAY, 108-22 Queens Blvd, NYC, Sunday September 26 at noon: tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/festival-of-cinema-nyc-block-7-tickets-168050849615