From the first days of its existence, cinematography was, in a certain sense, a “fraternal art”. It is believed that the Lumiere brothers invented this art at the end of the 19th century.
Finding in the constellation of all existing and existing cinematographers exactly those who created films from beginning to end independently is as difficult as finding a planet in the universe on which there is life. Cinema is a group affair. So, in addition to the talent of all its authors, the trust between its main authors is also important in the creation of a film. Probably, it is precisely because of this that people who are connected not only by a common idea, but also by family ties, often undertake the creation of films.
The history of cinema knows many examples when films were created by a creative tandem of brothers or sisters. Joel and Ethan Coen (The Big Lebowski, Inside Llewyn Davis), Andy and Lana Wachowski (The Matrix), Paolo and Vittorio Taviani (The Mastermind, Caesar Must Die), Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (“Child”, “Two days one night”), Nesryn and Yasemin Samdereli (“Germany – welcome to Germany”), etc.
This trend is followed in Ukrainian cinema as well. In 2014, the film “Synevir” (2013), directed by Oleksandr and Vyacheslav Alyoshechkin, was released.
The plot of this first domestic 3D horror film in the history of Independence is based on their own short film “Hoverla” (2004). The film transports the viewer to the 70s. A group of students decides to have a picnic on the shore of the Carpathian Lake Synevyr. At night by the fire, they begin to tell each other scary stories. But one of these stories about the mysterious monster Doghead turns out to be not such a myth. And somewhere from the depths of the dark forest start to hear frightening howls…
Both Alyoshechkina brothers graduated from Kyiv National University of Theater, Cinema and Television named after Karpenka Karogo (KNUTKT). Before starting work on “Synevir”. They shot television tapes and series. If their debut horror film is positively received by the public, its sequel will appear, which the film’s producer, Volodymyr Khorunzhy, has already begun to think about.
If the career of the Alyoshechkin brothers in big cinema is just beginning, then the joint work of the Ilyenko brothers has already ended. Vadim, Yuriy and Mykhailo Illenko worked together on the same film only once. It was the film “Evening on Ivan Kupala” (1968). It was directed and written by Yuriy. Vadim was behind the camera, and Mykhailo played one of the roles.
The film tells about a young man, Peter, who one day fell in love with a girl. And he decided to get her attention. But the young man immediately realized that among other guys who are trying to please the girl, he is inferior in many ways. And above all because he is a serf. So the young man decided to win her love with the help of magic. However, he will have to pay too high a price for this act – to sacrifice someone else’s life.
All three brothers graduated from VDIK: Vadim in 1955, Yuriy in 1960, and Mykhailo in the 1970s. The older brothers studied at the camera department, and Mykhailo – at the directing department. After that, they all worked at the Kyiv film studio named after Dovzhenko, where each of them had to sit in the director’s chair.
In addition, Mykhailo appears in Yuri’s film “The White Bird with a Black Mark” (1970). In turn, Vadim and Mykhailo shot together the tapes “Far Away, Behind the River” (1975), “Soft Boots” (1978) and “School” (1980).
Despite the fact that the names of all three brothers do not appear in the credits of any other film – they always consulted each other during the work on all their films.
As Mykhailo Illenko recalls, their family never did without competition: “I believe that it is necessary in creativity. It would have been much worse if my brothers and I had only been patting each other on the head. I always wanted to do better.”
