A big thank you to Aglaya Tarasova Star of Ice for taking time for this interview. Ice is currently featured in the Russian film festival.

Is this the first time you have had a movie at this specific festival?

 

Yes, this festival being held on VOD platforms is the first such project for a film with my participation. Earlier, this film “Ice” participated in the “Golden Unicorn” International Film Festival: then the film “Marathon of Desires” (by Dasha Charusha) was selected as part of the  competition program of the American festival LA Femme International Film Festival. In addition, Boris Khlebnikov’s series “An Ordinary Woman” was included in the main competition of Series Mania, a prestigious international series festival in France.

 

What is the movie about? What can audiences expect?

 

“Ice” is a very sincere, bright, and in some ways sad but incredibly beautiful, because the film is about figure skating. This is an exceptionally beautiful and difficult sport that the cameramen were able to masterfully show on the screen. What can audiences expect? It will be sad, but also funny in moments. I believe that the film will be able to touch your soul, make you smile after you finish watching it, and I want people to start believing in themselves after watching a movie like this… Believe in their dreams and their own potential…

 

Why did you accept the role? What inspired the movie?

 

It is not just that I accepted the offer, there was a huge casting process. At first, I was even scared to go to the auditions, because I understood that this film was about an athlete, and at that time, I was not skating at all. I understood that I needed to show the story of a girl who had lost her parents early; who, despite all the difficulties, continued working towards her dream for a very long time, someone who worked incredibly hard. She is someone with a kind of wounded soul, with a very strong character, and this was incredibly attractive to me! I really wanted to play this role, but it was scary. I believed in myself after I auditioned and the people who created this story believed in me too. I cannot say that this film is based on true events, although we do have skaters in our country with similar injuries, who did not give up when it seemed that everything was over – they got up again and went back out on to the ice. However, we have a kind of a collective character. In general, this is a very motivational story, and our producers believed it was necessary to make this story, and that it would find its viewers, and they were not mistaken!

 

Have you previously worked with anybody involved with “Ice” before?

 

You know, actually “Ice” was my first full-length feature film. This was my first big film role and that is why all the partners were new to me. I was very lucky to work with them. The director was a debutant, Oleg Trofim, who put his whole heart into this movie, and really made this film what it was. And the actors – Sasha Petrov, Maria Aronova, Milos Bikovic, Ksenia Rappoport, and, in the sequel “Ice 2”, –  Nadia Mikhalkova, Yulia Khlynina – these are all some of the best Russian actors around, it was a great pleasure to work with them! The producers Fyodor Bondarchuk (Art Pictures), the film company Hydrogen of Mikhail Vrubel, Alexander Andryushchenko, are also giants of the film industry who were able to present this film to the public in a proper way. They were the authors behind the idea of this film. The screenwriter, Andrei Zolotarev, is one of the most popular screenwriters in Russia, he was able to create this story in a very touching way.

 

Tell us a bit about your career and some other projects.

 

My path began when I was 17 years old, and it actually started by accident. I didn’t plan to be an actress, but the directors saw me on a shooting site, where I had brought my little sister to my mother’s for feeding, and I began to try acting. I started to succeed, I really liked it, and over the next few years, I made the decision to be an actress fulltime. I moved to Moscow from St. Petersburg, and at first, I had a role in the TV series “Interns”. It was a long project; we have been filming it for several years.

 

Then there were several more series after that, and then the film “Ice”, which divided my life into ‘before’ and ‘after’. Now I am very active in filming with some excellent directors. I have both movies and TV shows. This year I even starred in an international project and played alongside Mickey Rourke! In general, my career is going up! One of the most striking new projects is the film “Air”, which is currently being filmed with Alexey German. Before that, I worked with Boris Khlebnikov in the TV series “An Ordinary Woman”. I also really enjoyed working in the comedy “Marathon of Desires” directed by Dasha Charusha.

 

Why do you think it is important to hold an online Russian Film Festival abroad?

 

I have a very positive attitude towards festivals both online and offline, because the world is very big, and often a film that is shot in one particular country, remains in that country. These festivals are about sharing information, sharing culture, and they open new horizons! Casting directors, screenwriters, directors, and producers all attend such festivals, and it is important chance to see what kind of actors are in different countries. You never know where and who might come in handy.

 

Are there any particular moments in “Ice” that you really enjoyed filming?

 

You know, this film in general for me is just one amazing journey, a fairy tale, and a dream. I remember how every scene and every ice dance were filmed, how difficult and interesting it was. However, if we are talking about the most memorable scenes, one of them was shooting on Lake Baikal, of course. We flew out with a film crew to Irkutsk and were skating right on the frozen lake! It was incredibly cold, scary and beautiful. I remember the scene in the first film “Ice”, where my character sings Zemfira’s* song under water and drowns. It was a very difficult, multi-hours shoot. It was cold, hard, my breath was running out, but we kept on working, and in the end, it turned out very beautiful!

 

Are there any other upcoming movies of yours that you would like us to be aware of?

 

Right now, we are shooting a film of debutant Lado Quatania (Hype Film production) about a serial killer. A very cruel film, in a good way, it’s an auteur movie. Also, I have starting filming for Boris Khlebnikov in the ‘Comrade Major’ series. I also star in the TV series “Crazy” – this is a project of Alexander Dulerain. These are all ongoing projects. Filming for Alexei German’s “Air” has been suspended for now but will hopefully resume soon.

 

I have read that a sequel to “Ice” was released this year, are there any plans for a third movie to round out a trilogy?

 

I don’t know for sure, I’ve heard that the producers have some thoughts about what the third film might be about and whether it might exist at all. Of course, I would love to get back in to this favorite story again, but so far, it is hard to guess anything.

 

 

 

*Zemfira – popular singer in Russia