What happens when an artist refuses to follow the usual rules?
You get unusual museums, provocative films, unexpected creative decisions — and sometimes a public debate that starts long before the audience even sees the finished work.
That is the world of Valery and Yulia Pereverzevy, who spoke openly with Kirill Prepelitse about cinema, art, family, museums and the ideas behind their most discussed projects.
“An artist is a person who creates their own universe.”
From Military School to the World of Cinema
Valery Pereverzev's route into filmmaking was anything but predictable.
He received military education and learned to manage large teams, make decisions and take responsibility.
Then came art.
And surprisingly, the skills turned out to be transferable.
A film director also has to coordinate dozens of people, make difficult decisions and keep an entire project moving toward one final result.
But Pereverzev insists that directing is more than management.
It is about creating a world of your own.
The Museums That Make People Look Twice
Now for the unusual part.
Valery and Yulia have worked on museum projects exploring subjects such as the history of prostitution, corporal punishment, aquarium keeping, gifts from the television show Pole Chudes, forgotten dolls and invisible things.
Not exactly the standard museum menu.
And that is precisely the point.
The projects invite visitors to examine history and society from angles they might normally avoid.
A museum, in this approach, is not simply a room filled with objects.
It is a place where uncomfortable questions can become part of a cultural conversation.
Twenty Years Looking for One Photograph
One of the most fascinating stories from the interview sounds almost fictional.
Valery spent years searching for a photograph of a pre-revolutionary Russian janitor.
The search went on for around two decades.
Then, almost by accident, he acquired an old group photograph.
And there they were.
Not one janitor.
Several dozen.
Twenty years of searching — followed by one completely unexpected discovery.
For a collector, this is not just luck.
It is part of the process.
Then Came “Brother 3”
Few of their projects generated as much discussion before release as Brother 3.
And here is the twist: much of the controversy focused on the title itself.
People debated it.
Compared it.
Formed opinions about the film.
Some did so before even seeing it.
Pereverzev has repeatedly emphasized that Brother 3 is an independent work, not a continuation of Alexei Balabanov's films.
But the public reaction revealed something fascinating.
Sometimes the title of a work can become a cultural event of its own.
“Russian Cinema Is Not Dead”
What does Pereverzev think about the future of Russian cinema?
His answer is far more optimistic than the usual crisis headlines:
“Russian cinema is not dead. It is sleeping. And one day it will definitely wake up.”
He believes the industry needs new authors, experiments and the freedom to search for new cinematic language.
Because without experimentation, there is no real development.
Some experiments fail.
Others surprise everyone.
But without taking the risk, nothing genuinely new appears.
When Husband and Wife Become Creative Partners
Working together is one thing.
Working together while being married is another.
Valery and Yulia do not pretend they never disagree.
They do.
But their disagreements are professional.
The foundation is trust, respect and a shared understanding of creative work.
For a director and producer working as a team, that can be more valuable than simply agreeing on everything.
And Then There Is AI
Naturally, the conversation also reaches artificial intelligence.
Could AI eventually become an artist?
Pereverzev sees it primarily as a tool.
A powerful one.
A rapidly developing one.
But still a tool.
Because art comes from human experience — memory, fear, love, pain, hope and everything else that makes human life complicated.
A machine can process information.
But can it actually live the life behind the story?
That remains the bigger question.
What Is Left When the Noise Disappears?
Perhaps the most revealing part of the interview comes at the end.
Awards disappear.
Premieres end.
Exhibitions close.
Public controversy eventually moves on.
So what remains?
The effect a work has on a person.
Did it make someone think?
Did it change the way they looked at something?
Did it leave a question behind?
That may be the real measure of artistic success.
Not whether everyone liked the work — but whether the work made anyone stop and think.
And perhaps that is exactly what Valery and Yulia Pereverzevy are trying to do.
Not simply make films.
Not simply create museums.
But build a creative universe that audiences can enter, question and interpret for themselves.
Source: MosFocus Magazine – mosfocus.com
Read the full interview on mosfocus.com
Korr: Kirill Prepelitse
Guests: Valery and Yulia Pereverzevy
Photo: Polina Kakhorova, Mikhail Felzing, Valery Pereverzev, Gennady Avraamenko
Link to the podcast: Video and audio podcast on MosFocus
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