‘The Creative Industry Teaches Us to Overcome Failures’
On April 19, the HSE Film Institute held a press conference on the topic of ‘Achievements and New Goals’ at the HSE University building on Pokrovsky Bulvar. In addition, students of the Actor educational programme presented the results of their first year of studying.
In the central atrium of the building, HSE Film Institute undergraduates gave a large-scale performance in which they demonstrated the acting method developed by Tadashi Suzuki.
Nana Tatishvili, teacher of Suzuki-method acting, said that it is one of the strongest methods in world theatrical practice. ‘This is a special method of training actors that is currently taught in Russia only at the HSE Film Institute,’ she said. ‘It is about character, will, and the ability to work with an imaginary object. The technique is unique in the fact that it is based on living human energy—a strong voice and a mobile body that reacts sharply to any impulses. Moreover, the method helps maintain long-term concentration on the process and carry oneself well in front of the camera.’
The HSE Film Institute was opened by HSE University and the Association of Film and Television Producers in 2022. It trains screenwriters, directors, producers, and actors.
Graduates of the HSE Film Institute’s programmes will be competitive in the labour market, believes its director Alexander Akopov. Each of them offers up to seven projects of their own as part of the training; by graduation, each student has two projects—a feature film and a TV series. ‘Students study in small groups,’ says Alexander Akopov. ‘And 90% of training consists of practical exercises. Having small groups means direct communication with teachers, which contributes to more successful consolidation of the material. We train filmmakers who have the best possible tools in the fields of producing, acting, directing, and screenwriting. We are about professional and spectator cinema.’
Alexey Trotsyuk, General Producer of the Yellow, Black and White company, was the press conference’s invited guest and speaker. He said that he admired the high level of the university’s teaching staff and atmosphere. ‘I would gladly take the course myself and get this unforgettable experience in the cinematic field,’ he admitted. He added that students at HSE University must acquire skills that will help them realise their ambitions and needs. ‘The creative industry teaches us to overcome failures,’ commented Aleksey Trotsyuk. ‘And life is built from such small failures and discoveries. The experience of working on something new is always stressful, especially in the creative field. The main goal here is to understand yourself and other people, to study the work process and integrate into it.’
Alexander Tronov, choreography teacher at the HSE Film Institute, dancer, actor, and director, said that he has most often worked with professional dancers, but the process of teaching HSE University students happens in a special way. ‘When I come to the students, I see their bright eyes and I can read the words “Teach me!” in them,’ he notes. ‘I saw progress even after the first lesson, which made me very happy. Being a good actor is not only about acting, but also about the body, so we continue to develop their abilities and skills in dance.’
Vadim Kurilov, teacher of stage speech at the HSE Film Institute, agreed with Alexander Tronov. He emphasised that every actor should pay attention to their body. ‘The essence of stage speech training is not at all in artificial breathing, but primarily in releasing the natural, inner voice of the artist,’ said Vadim Kurilov. ‘The specificity of the method lies in understanding oneself, so we always start with attention to ourselves, our bodily sensations.’
Victoria Belyaeva, teacher of drama at the HSE Film Institute, shared her opinion that the process of teaching dramatic art, like all areas of the film industry, involves first of all constant work, and only after that creativity. ‘We teach students that creativity ends at the stage of writing a synopsis. It is only in the synergy of constant work and creativity that a good script is born, and subsequently an excellent movie,’ she concluded.
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