Alexei German Jr. pays another visit to the Presidential Library

The meeting with film director Alexei German Jr. and Elena Okopnaya, production designer, member of his film team, was held in the Presidential Library. The talented couple told about their filmmaking career, the basics of the profession they had to learn, and also shared ideas about the principles of the craft and film production with young people.

The meeting brought together students and teachers of St. Petersburg State University of Film and Television, the Russian Gymnasium at the State Russian Museum, the Faddeev Academic Gymnasium of St. Petersburg State University and others. Via videoconferencing film fans from Saransk, Novosibirsk, Karelia, Kemerovo, Kaliningrad, Vladimir and other regions had a chance to put questions to famous Russian film professionals.

Alexei German gave some advice to young film directors and formulated a kind of a gist: “You may learn a lot from our talented professionals, study in the best universities. But unless you start doing something on your own, nothing will help you.” Alexei German Jr. was born into a famous family. His parents were the renowned film professional Alexei German and scriptwriter Svetlana Karmalita.

Alexei and Elena learned the ropes of filmmaking in different universities, at different time, had different teachers and  specialties: Alexei German tried to master the laws of drama. Elena focused on filmmaking process. But both of them were able to change their lives when they found something important. Alexei German Jr. "at some point realized that he needed to do something more active," and in 2001 he graduated from the Directing Department of the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (VGIK). The student who failed to complete her studies, met Alexei and decided that he was her university. Although this is a mutual enrichment process, Elena is often an arbiter in complex creative disputes and she manages to give grounds for her point.

Her contribution to Dovlatov film - the latest feature-length work of Alexei German Jr. - is unquestionable. Elena Okopnaya was a production designer and costume designer. The film was given the prize at the Berlin Film Festival in 2018 in these very categories. The jury highlighted that the director's team revived the real atmosphere of Leningrad in the 1960s.

The list of films directed by Alexei German Jr. is still not long. It includes Garpastum, Paper Soldier, Under Electric Clouds and Dovlatov. Nonetheless, the beginner filmmakers are young, full of creative energy and have a firm conviction “not to follow the general model of transparency”. And it means that soon we will see films with an uncommon, accurate and thoughtful interpretation of time.

Alexei German Jr. and members of his family have many times visited the Presidential Library. In particular, in July 2013, Alexei German visited the library at Senate Square, 3 and told about the film Hard to Be a God, which was close to completion. It came out after the death of his father Alexei German Sr.

During that memorable visit Alexei German recalled that when he had been producing Garpastum he faced a problem with access to historical materials. He also expressed confidence that over time the Presidential Library could become the best source of documentary materials for the creation of screenplays and production of historical films.

In February 2014, Alexei German Jr. and Svetlana Karmalita took part in a press conference dedicated to the premiere of the film Hard to Be a God by Alexei German Sr. What is more, the film German. Beyond the Camera was screened in the building at Senate Square, 3 in 2017. The event also included a presentation of the book Great German, which casts light on the life and work of one of the most talented Soviet and Russian film directors.