ON SET_RESEARCH

ULDUS BAKHTIOZINA-MY MUSE

When people see my work, usually the first sentence will be emotionally "you do things really have your style ah", then I have to discuss the formation of my style is most inseparable from a director and artist, my muse ULDUS BAKHTIOZINA. two years ago I saw through the social media platforms, the first to make me have a Two years ago I saw the first work on social media platforms that made me think "I want to make something like this", called "Дочь рыбака" (The Fisherman's Daughter), written and directed by Uldus Bakhtiozina.
She uses a lot of quirky elements in this film, as well as traditional customs and cultures, such as the unique dances and musical performances of the fishermen during certain festivals and celebrations, as well as fishermen's stories and legends passed down from their ancestors, which is, I think, a way of spreading Bakhtiozina's love for her native culture and wanting to make it more accessible to a wider audience. What I saw in this film was the strength and resilience of women. The heroine is a girl from a fishing village, whose family changes and she starts to face the difficulties and pressures of survival on her own, and through the intersection of dreams and reality, she eventually becomes an independent, successful and self-confident woman. I was impressed by her strong visual language throughout the film, the Russian grotesque aesthetic that I recognised in this work, and the traditional Russian costumes, the most seen in the film is the crown called "Kokoshnik", which is the costume of women in ancient Russia. The word "kokoshnik" comes from the old Slavic word "kokosh", which means "chicken". "Kokoshniks are also known as tall embroidered headdresses because they are usually shaped in a high and delicate manner, and are an integral part of the festival. The kokosnik here symbolises the chicken's ability to reproduce vigorously. Secondly, there is a lot of grotesque make-up in the film, such as glittering diamond-encrusted silver teeth, and all sorts of complicated and cumbersome accessories and jewellery. And then there are a lot of bizarre objects and images in the film, such as two women arm wrestling in the shape of a swan; a dresser that automatically applies make-up; and even high heels in the shape of a human face....... All of these made a huge difference to my visual perception, and made me deeply in love with the grotesque aesthetics of the film.
So I went to check out more of Bakhtiozina's work, including photographs. Bakhtiozina is accustomed to observing the world from a unique Pre-Raphaelite perspective, observing people's lives, understanding their stories and then interpreting them. And many of her works express the idea that women are buried. Bhaktizna says, "As you grow up, you look at nursery rhymes through adult eyes and realise that something is missing from them." So Bakhtizna revisits traditional Russian fairy tales through a surrealist lens. About the Swan Princess, the Frog Princess, the Ivanushka Brothers, the Bird of the Westwood, and many other Russian folk myths and legends, Bhaktizna brings in her own metaphors. The rhythm of the film, the methodical pace of the film, the static shots and long pauses, the infrequent dialogues, all the elements are like a hypnotic ritual, which puts not only the heroine of the film, but also the audience into a dream state. Although there is a feeling of near decadence and decay, this gorgeous to the core novel presentation of Russian grotesque aesthetics is much more impressive than a stereotypical release.
Then there are a lot of strange objects and images in the film, which changed my visual perception greatly and made me deeply fascinated by the grotesque aesthetics that made my style of work start to become weird.

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