Yulia Trofimova lives and works in Moscow. She studied screenwriting and filmmaking at the New York Film Academy in 2017-2018 and directing at the Moscow School of New Cinema in 2018-2019. She’s directed a number of dramedy shorts and a dramedy web series, “Instalife.”

“The Land of Sasha” is screening at the 2022 Berlin International Film Festival, which is taking place February 10-20.

W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.

YT: This is a movie about coming of age in its broadest sense, as it has no relation to age. In my movie, both mother and son pass through this stage, but for each of them coming of age has a different meaning: for the main character, Sasha, it means taking [on] responsibility, and for his mother, it’s letting her son go.

W&H: What drew you to this story?

YT: First, I read the book. It’s the debut novel of Gala Uzryutovaby, a Russian female writer who won a prize in the category of young adult literature. I like books about youth — they are often more sincere than books about adults.

After reading this book, I felt an emotional uplift, which I thought would be great to convey with the means I know – the movie. There was a lot of hope, tenderness, and care in this book.

W&H: What do you want people to think about after they watch the film?

YT: I want them to feel that everything is possible — all the roads are open in front of them, regardless of their age. And that, after all, people need other people.

W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?

YT: I guess the biggest challenge was to find the main actors. I met a lot of boys and girls studying in Russian theater and cinema institutes. First, I just had interviews with them to see what personalities they had. [The only thing I thought that mattered] was what was inside of them, how they are wired, what makes them tick.

With the main character, Sasha, it took me long to find the right person. I knew exactly who I was looking for and I could not find him – until I met Mark Eidelshtein. But Mark could only do it a month after the planned shooting schedule. There was a dilemma — [we had to figure out] whether or not we could wait. Waiting for us meant extra costs and changing the crew. I’m grateful to the producer, Katerina Mikhaylova, who was ready to shift the production schedule and make it happen.

W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.

YT: I worked with Katerina Mikhaylova, our producer, on the web series “Instalife,” and I showed her the script of the feature film I was working on. It was “The Land of Sasha.” I was lucky because I have very similar taste with Katerina, and she really understood how this movie could look. She fell in love with the idea as much as I did. Maybe that’s what you call women power! From that point on, Katerina was on it. We submitted the application for the subsidy of the Russian Ministry of Culture and were selected among a few other projects. That year, 2020, the contest was especially tough.

Also, thanks to Katerina’s efforts, we got support from the private foundation Kinoprime.

W&H: What inspired you to become a filmmaker?

YT: I was always interested in literature, photography, and visual art. I used to write stories when I was a child, and I took a lot of pictures. Movies are at the intersection of these two passions. Besides, due to movies I often had a feeling that someone understood me – oftentimes there were characters who were very relatable to what I experienced, and watching these movies was like therapy or talking to a good friend.

I wanted to do something similar so that my personal experiences and the themes that worry me could touch and maybe even help other people.

W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?

YT: The best advice I received was from one of the directors at a Sundance Collab course who said that talent is the decision. There’s no point worrying if you’ve got talent or not — you should just stop asking yourself this question and decide that you are following your passion 100 percent.

The worst advice I got was from one of the people with whom I shared the story of “The Land of Sasha.” This was was before I met Katerina. They asked, “How many coming-of-age stories can there be? There’s nothing unique about it.” But I do realize now that coming of age is one of the crucial experiences through which every person passes and each of these stories will be unique. The theme is universal, but the experience is very individual, and therefore interesting to watch.

W&H: What advice do you have for other women directors? 

YT: I think women have a very deep, psychological way of looking at things. Female directors may help to add dimensions to the description of the world and understanding of people’s nature through characters. My advice would be to stick to the themes you are truly interested in and not to give up.

Also, it’s important to find collaborators — people who will fight for you. It was a long period of talking to many producers before I found Katerina and it was just a perfect match. For a director, it’s important to find your own producer. In my case, it was not only luck, it was persistence.

The team of our film consists of many women – besides Katerina and myself, there is the author of the book, two female screenwriters, a female production designer, a female 1st AD, and a female line producer.

W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.

YT: I am a big fan of Sofia Coppola, particularly “Lost in Translation.” Also, I got inspired by Julia Ducournau’s “Raw” and “Titane.”

W&H: How are you adjusting to life during the COVID-19 pandemic? Are you keeping creative, and if so, how?

YT: Surprisingly, I got much more creative during the pandemic. Maybe it’s a sort of escapism, but I started writing new scripts, approaching new people, forming new collaborations. Overall, I broke up a lot of my routine patterns during the pandemic. Sometimes I felt very nervous, but I learned how to channel this nervous energy into creativity.

W&H: The film industry has a long history of underrepresenting people of color onscreen and behind the scenes and reinforcing — and creating — negative stereotypes. What actions do you think need to be taken to make it more inclusive?

YT: I think it starts with the script writing – screenwriters should start breaking down barriers by introducing people of different races, colors, genders, etc. onto the page.

Festivals also play a big role — they should support inclusivity in films.