‘BULLSHIT’: ‘The BFC Presents’ Q+A with Director and Producer Borys Shusterman

The BFC team was quite surprised to see that 77 countries visited our festival website during the last month, but quite shocked to see that the second-highest traffic came from Ukraine! We followed the traffic back to one of our incredible films, BULLSHIT, directed and produced by a Ukrainian filmmaker, Borys Shusterman. Borys and many other filmmakers in Ukraine continue to persevere through tumultuous times in order to make films. Thank you Borys for sharing your film and thoughts on filmmaking with us.

[Q] How did you become interested in filmmaking?

[A] In my case, I'd say, it's about how I decided to resume filmmaking. I've been dreaming about it since the 1970s, but in those years, there were big obstacles for citizens from other, except for Russia. These republics were part of the USSR, especially those of Jewish nationality. So it was difficult for me to even dream of such a thing. In our time, cinema technology has reached such a level that the production of films at all stages has become accessible to many, united in small groups of like-minded people, even if you work alone. That's What I am doing now. 

[Q] What messages do you hope to convey with the movie BULLSHIT?

[A] Recently I got a call from a friend, a well-known architect, who watched the film and said: You know, I understand now. This is your signal to fathers like you and me who raise stepchildren. I have a son, you have a daughter. They are already quite mature. All this is such a trifle in comparison with love, if, of course, there is love.

There is a key phrase in the film, the voice-over of the hero's mother at the end of the film:

A man always loves the children of the woman he loves.

[Q] Would you describe your vision and passion for making films?

[A] I love sports, bridge and I love the quirky acting of a film, especially with limited resources. It seems to me that you can always find the best solution. My senior friend at the Technical University film studio in the 1970s, and later my relative, Eugeny Mamut taught me a lesson. If you want to shoot something, then shoot! If you engage in eternal discussions and approvals, waiting for permission from the authorities, nothing will come of it. In 1987, Yevgeny Mamut won the Academy Award in the field of special effects. Now lives in Lee, MA.[Q] What are your goals as a filmmaker?

[Q] What are your goals as a filmmaker?

[A] I am no longer young, and my ambitions are not so great. I just want to shoot at least a couple of feature films based on my 6 scripts. Or at least one. Ha-ha. My friends jokingly call me a Studioman. During my student years, I practically lived at our film studio. I had to do everything. Editing, lighting, filming, working on a copier, developing film, working on sound, and repairing all this equipment. When you know, if not everything, but a lot in each of the film professions, then everything is simple. And if you are also the author of the script... It is very easy to co-work with yourself.

[Q] Can you share your thoughts on the challenges you and others may have faced as filmmakers living in Ukraine?

[A] Briefly, my answer is the following. Our cinema is a continuous problem and, to be honest, I do not want to be its part. I mean, in the Ukrainian cinema, to be exact, I do not want to deal with its governing bodies. I don't want to know them, to be honest. There are so many questions here that there is not enough time to even partially describe all the problems. The main thing is our eternal corruption. All film production is concentrated in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. Kharkiv, where I live, is a large city of 1.5 million people, 6 large theaters, many small ones, my own university, even two universities associated with film professions. But almost all of them are not in demand. And this situation is not only in Kharkiv, in all major cities. Our actors are starving, in the sense of the profession. We have a lot of talented people. And if anyone from Western investors wants to help in the development of cinema in Ukraine, this should be done directly at the lowest level. At the level of the creative team making a particular film.

It seems to me that our cinema, film festivals are intended primarily for creating all kinds of film parties, cultivating our own celebrities who are, oh my, so far from true celebrities. But, as the Ukrainian song says, "we will watch our own business". 

[Q] Please feel free to tell us additional information and send along any photos of your work on this film.

We shot the film without a storyboard using two cameras. At first, there was a full rehearsal, without cameras and in a different place. Then, using both cameras, we filmed the through action non-stop, twice. It eventually looks like we had 4 cameras. As a result, the actors did not have to stop, their acting was more organic. Subsequently, there were difficulties with the sound, because during the re-recording the actors could not convey the nerve that they had shown during the filming. I had to pull everything possible out of the draft soundtrack.