Do What you Want
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Anna KravchenkoDirector
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Anna KravchenkoWriter
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Anna KravchenkoProducer
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Simon SteinbergKey Cast"Younger Brother"The Humorist (2019)
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Eugene SkukovskyKey Cast"Older Brother"
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Project Title (Original Language):Делай что хочешь
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Project Type:Feature
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Runtime:59 minutes
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Completion Date:May 1, 2019
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Production Budget:15,000 USD
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Country of Origin:Russian Federation
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Country of Filming:Russian Federation
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Language:Russian
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Shooting Format:Digital
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Aspect Ratio:16:9
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Film Color:Black & White and Color
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First-time Filmmaker:Yes
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Student Project:Yes
Born in Ukraine in 1984, raised in Russia's Orenburg and living in Moscow. Graduated from Moscow State University with a major in Russian language and literature.
Before applying to film school in 2015, worked in brokerage company, then as a financial journalist.
Studied at Moscow School of New Cinema in Fred Kelemen's cinematography and directing laboratory.
Member of the student jury at the San-Sebastian film festival in 2018.
First feature film Do What You Want finished in 2019.
The power of family patterns in shaping our lives has always been fascinating to me. I see through my own experience how deep those patterns get under our skin and what a great endeavour it takes to break them. When we make a choice - is it our free will behind it? If our childhood predestines so much in life, is any of us free to do what we want?
Those were the questions I wanted to reflect on in this film. Then I had this image – a couple of teenagers and a young kid walking in a field. Who are they? I let the situation play in may head...
After the tragic accident a boy bullies his younger brother into keeping silent about what really happened, leaving the victim to deal with her trauma alone. Years later the shameful secret catches up with the brothers. The younger one gets a chance to gain the upper hand in the sibling rivalry and to reconcile with the victim but that would mean destroying his brother.
Yet it is not a family drama but a noir film, gripping and ahead of its audience at every moment. It shows that demons from the past and dark families truths are more dangerous than thugs. The fight against them leaves no victors, only survivors.
I'm drawn to the films that treat mundane subjects and characters as deeply mysterious, while the dramatic or extreme scenes would be done in a reserved way, as if keeping respectful distance. That's why the films of Kira Muratova, Robert Bresson, Sharunas Bartas were a big influence on me.
The external circumstances in which the characters find themselves are particular but the fear of breaking free from our own narrative and the despair over the price we have to pay for it are relevant to many. Even if the journey is a failure, it reveals something to us about the world and ourselves.
After the film is over, I wish the audience to be left with melancholic yet uplifting musing that bright autumn colours often evoke. The memories of how the film made us feel even if we don't remember the plot enrich our lives and I'm grateful for the opportunity to add my particular shade to the mosaic.