Katja Fedulova has been working since 2004 as a freelancer, cinematographer, and director for advertising, documentary, and feature films.

“Faith Hope Love” will premiere at the 2018 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival on April 27.

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

KF: My documentary is about three committed young Russian women, each of whom has a vision: to make their homeland better. Three women, three opposing and extreme attitudes.

Olga wishes for democracy in Russia, where she bravely fights against corruption. Natalia wants to put an end to mass abortions. Anastasia wants to protect Russia from the “external enemy,” and moves to the war zone in eastern Ukraine.

Even if I do not share the same view as most of the ideologies of my protagonists, these women fascinate me through their courage and their determination to fight in a country that is ruled by men.

As a girl, I too wanted to be a brave warrior. I wanted to protect my home from enemies. If necessary, I would even be ready to die for my country, like my grandmother, who fought in World War II. Her war stories have shaped me a lot. After 20 years of exile in Germany, I return to Russia to see if there any heroines like my grandmother, and if so, what are they fighting for in today’s Russia?

In the film, I accompany my protagonists for a year in their fight. Olga is running in Kursk in the regional elections. She is a deputy, acting as a clean democrat against much resistance and corrupt officials. But Olga’s mysterious assistant doubts her commitment. Natalia quarrels with morality in society; her human and social image is backward, an illusion. Anastasia fights as a war correspondent in the war in Ukraine. She defends Stalinism, and quotes a war comrade as saying, “You do not have to die for your homeland — you have to kill for it.”

W&H: What drew you to this story?

KF: I am an exiled Russian. Over 20 years ago I found my place to be here in Germany. When I left my motherland in the ‘90s, I escaped the chaotic circumstances of the Perestroika. I lived and worked in Berlin, I sharpened my filmmaker skills, and I am now driven back to Russia accompanied by mixed feelings: shame, confidence, and an unsatisfied need to be personally involved.

My desire is huge. What can I do for my homeland? Do I have a clearer and more objective view on Mother Russia than the people I left behind all those years ago? Can I help to bring these two worlds closer together?

In “Faith Hope Love” I portray these — as they see themselves — “heroic” women. They represent the most diverse ideologies in the country that has been torn apart by the aftereffects of perestroika. I was disappointed to find that the Russian opposition is becoming weaker, and the distance to Europe is growing.

If the West was a role model until recently, it is now seen more as a Sodom and Gomorrah. The new Russia is very hard for dissidents. People with liberal, pro-Western political views are called Liberasts — this frightening term is a putting together of two words: “liberal,” and “pederast,” and has recently become very popular in the Russian mass media. It is used for the Russian creatives and freedom searchers.

In “Faith Hope Love” I draw a complex picture of the situation in Russia on the basis of simple examples. I had the hope that there were still people with an independent political view in Russia; I wanted to become a witness, a confidant, even a contributor.

W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?

KF: I would like to give my viewers a different view of Russia and the situation there. Of course, the three visions presented do not just provide a glimpse into a possible Russian future but they make it clear to a Western audience why Russia is the way it is.

For several years there has been a conflict between Russia and the West. President Putin is being sharply criticized. In my film, among other things, I ask the question: is democracy possible in Russia? What must people do to break this authoritarian system? Do they even want that at all? Is my taxi driver in the right when he says, referring to mass corruption, “How can you fight what are the founding principles of this country?”

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

KF: I think the hardest part to me was not just being a questioning, irritated, searching author, but to meddle in, and engage in, uncomfortable, hard discussions, like those about the rape I experienced as a young woman. To describe this in front of the camera in an altercation requires overcoming a lot. But it was also necessary to use my own experience as a counter-argument to the contradictory ideologies of my protagonists.

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

KF: I got a research scholarship from Robert Bosch Foundation, Literary Colloquium which funded my research, and secured my protagonists. My producers, Tondowski Films, then presented it to German TV — ZDF’s Das kleine Fernsehspiel, who then funded the film.

W&H: What does it mean for you to have your film play at Hot Docs?

KF: I am so happy that my documentary is in Hot Docs this year, and that I get to share my personal views of Russia to a North American, and international audience. I think it’s great that Hot Docs has selected 50 percent female filmmakers! Thanks, Hot Docs!

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

KF: I was born, and grew up, in a socialist country, where most citizens were forced to adopt and represent one Utopian ideology. When I went to Germany, I learned from my film teachers to question everything, to form my own opinion, and to implement it in my films. This has helped me as a filmmaker to tackle political-social issues regardless of all kinds of propaganda, which are very present in Russia, and also in the West.

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

KF: Fight for gender equality in our business!

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

KF: There are many female directors I really like. One of them is Eugenia Golovnya. I like her documentary films. It’s difficult to explain why, because they are all so different, but the way she portrays people is unique!

W&H: Hollywood and the global film industry are in the midst of undergoing a major transformation. Many women — and some men — in the industry are speaking publicly about their experiences being assaulted and harassed. What are your thoughts on the #TimesUp movement and the push for equality in the film business?

KF: I think there is barely a woman, whether filmmaker or not, that has not been sexually harassed. I am also one of them. I also did not react when it happened. I did not resist. Not because of fear, but out of conviction that it must be normal.

Many of us have been socially educated from an early age to obey older people or high-ranking people. Our individual feelings were suppressed and disregarded. I am very happy that our children are quite different, [thanks in part to] such movements as #MeToo or #TimesUp. They are more confident and self-determined.