“Bisura”: forest wars, episode two
A test screening of a thriller based on Bashkir mythology was held in Kazan
Following Sofia Chigirova's film “Moң" (12+), in March 2027 the Russian viewer will see the picture “Bisura” by Sasha Bodraya from Bashkortostan. A closed screening of the working version of the film took place in Ufa in July; now it is Kazan's turn. If it is a success, the authors hope to shoot a prequel, and then a sequel, since there is a basis for this. Details — in the material of “Real Time.”
My roots ask me, who is that woman in red
“Bisura” in Tatar is “bichura.” Moreover, for the Tatars it is an analogue of the house spirit, while for the Bashkirs it is a creature in red living in the forest. There is a version that it is an analogue of the Russian kikimora. The film was shot by director Sasha Bodraya, who built her world on the basis of Bashkir mythology.
Sasha Bodraya is originally from Ishimbay; when she was 11 years old, the family moved to Moscow. Before this film she released several short films; in feature length this is her debut. One of her pictures, “The Master," made it into the shortlist of the festival of student and debut cinema “Saint Anna.” Bodraya graduated from the London Film Academy and the Higher School of Economics.
“Bisura” was shot in Moscow, and also in Bashkortostan, in particular in the Limonovsky gorge and the Yumaguzinsky reservoir. So in the frame it is often very, very beautiful. In the roles are mostly young actors known from TV series: David Sokrakyan (“Difficult Teenagers," “The Love of the Soviet Union”), Alexandra Kiseleva (“Crystal," “Sklifosovsky”), Marat Abdrakhimov (“The Eighties," “Sklifosovsky”), Oleg Chugunov, who appeared in “Major Grom.”
Sokrakyan's hero named Ural pushes through a project for building a factory in the capital; as a result of almost failed negotiations, he suddenly has to create his dream, but not in the Moscow region, but in his historical homeland.
Moreover, on the site of a forest, which immediately causes protest from the local head (Marat Abdrakhimov). This is your ancestral tree, he tells Ural, there is mine, and Marat does not have one, he is not a local.
At home Ural meets old friends and new acquaintances; the strangest pair among them is Igor (Oleg Chugunov), who adores video filming, and his girlfriend, the shamaness Amina (Alexandra Kiseleva). And the role of Bisura, the mysterious girl in red, is entrusted to Diana Vladimirova, in a certain sense a debutante with a small portfolio, but at the same time very convincing in her fairy-tale guise.
The forest, the village, Sabantuy
Cinematographer Roman Adeev does not let the viewer get bored: for example, in the negotiation scene at the beginning he puts the camera on the table and circles it, showing all the characters many times over. Above the forest he hovers, behind the heroes he runs, at the disco — pushes through the crowd.
Since the film is in the process of preparation, one should not reveal any serious details. But it is worth noting that in some ways it has intersections with another feature-length film story of recent months that works with mythology on various levels, moreover shot by a female director.
What the Bashkir-Moscow picture shares with “Moң" is admiration for folk culture. Moreover, if with Sofia Chigirova the Sabantuy is Tatar and quite quiet, here it is Bashkir, lively, with horses and an orchestra of kurai players. But in both there is kuresh.
95% readiness
What distinguishes Bodraya's work from other novelties is a tangled but at the same time linear plot, as well as a general frightening fairy-tale atmosphere — the spirits here look like spirits, and the village hipsters — like lovers of esotericism and shashlik on the other side of the screen. Bodraya says that she was inspired by the films “The Lord of the Rings," “Swiss Army Man," as well as Chinese underground. Despite the fact that this is a film designed for viewer interest, even in the mystical scenes it sometimes looks like an indie film, which adds charm to it.
Bodraya wrote the script with the actor-producer Alexey Savin, noting that she already has material for a prequel, where the viewer, for example, will understand the complex history of Ural's family, which raised quite a few questions at the screening. And also — for a continuation, so “Bisura” can be marked as the second episode of a trilogy.
But what the next film will be will become clear in March 2027, when “Bisura” goes into wide release. For now the task is to finish it, taking into account the opinions of focus groups if possible; moreover, the film's computer graphics are not yet fully ready, the music has not been added, and it is entertaining: both Ay Yola sound (to Homay the hero drives home in a “loaf” van), and Aidar Iskhakov, beloved by Kazan residents. In essence, all the trends of Bashkir music are musically voiced!
As the authors explain, the picture is 95% ready. Also, currently in the picture there is quite a lot of voice-over, leading the viewer through the plot. “I first need to make three understandable films," the director summarized after the screening.