In his 1952 book The Decisive Moment, pioneer photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson wrote: “To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as of a precise organization of forms which give that event its proper expression.” Now, Chechen filmmaker Anzor Mulkoev has made a deeply moving film—”Back to the Past by Photos”—that dramatizes Cartier-Bresson’s profound insight.

In the following interview, Mulkoev gives his background and discusses the making of his film, which won first prize in cinematography at the Mozi Film Festival. The film also was included in the iPhone Film Festival. The filmmaker gave his responses in Russian. The English version is based on a translation made by Google’s translation app.  The original, unedited Russian version appears below.

The film was chosen as this magazine’s Mobile Movie of the Week/

MMM: What is your filmmaking background?

Mulkoev: On education, I’m a civil engineer, but I’ve always been fond of movies, I’ve always liked to make video editing from school. At the time of the shooting of this short film, I drew all the information from the Internet. But later I still decided to enroll for two months of the course at the MovieBand school. I already came there with a lot of knowledge and experience as a director, screenwriter, cameraman, editor and actor.  But we always need supporters and help, so I took the courses.

MMM: What filmmakers influenced you?

Mulkoev: I really like Akira Kurosawa in his films as it seems to me there is no absolute evil or good; there are simply people who commit bad and good deeds, just like in life. Since childhood, I liked to frighten my family and my mother called me “Hitchcock” after growing up and watching the genius’s films of suspense.The films of Jhon Woo impressed me  as did Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns. I love Guy Ritchie movies; he has a very peculiar humor. I really hope he shoots “Gamekeeper”. And of course comedies of the Soviet director Leonid Gayday can be reviewed every year.

MMM: What gave you the idea for this story?

Mulkoev: I watched the movie “Dial M for Murder” and saw black-and-white photos on the wall and on the fireplace. For some reason it occurred to me to make a film where the story will be told through photos. That led to the idea of a boy leafing through an album with photos of his grandfather. In my short film the idea was to have photos convey memory that is passed through generations. I also decided to make a film without dialogues after I read that the professionalism of the director and screenwriter manifests itself when the story and meaning of the film can be conveyed to the viewer without dialogues, I wanted to experiment and see if I could do that.

MMM: Why did you decide to use a smartphone?

Mulkoev: Well, the first reason is the lack of a budget for other equipment. And this is a kind of challenge to yourself to check what kind of professional you are without the traditional equipment.

MMM: Did you have any difficulties making the movie?

Mulkoev:  It was hard to find the actors to do a script in which there is no dialogue. When I showed them the script, they did not understand what the movie was about and did not want to be part of the movie. So I decided to call relatives and to set them a task. I explained the character’s motivation but they did not fully understand what they were doing until they saw the final result. They were very surprised. Another problem was controlling color using a smartphone and the ability to correct it. Because I really love black and white cinema, I quickly decided to make the movie in black and white.

MMM: Did you use any special gear or apps to make the movie?

Mulkoev: I ordered lenses and waited for them to be delivered. But as it turned out they had very poor quality so I decided to shoot without them on the smartphone. I used the application FilmicPro. Everything was shot handheld and then stabilized in the program.

MMM: What advice would you give to someone just beginning to make movies?

Mulkoev: Steven Sodenberg said “Take the script, the iPhone, and start shooting.” He’s right, but with his fame, it’s easy to do. Beginning filmmakers, on the other hand, might write somewhere in social networks: “I have an excellent script and phone let’s do it ..!” Probably no one will respond. As the saying goes, “Knowing the way and going through it is not the same,” You need a very good idea around which you can bring together like-minded people and then shoot, shoot and shoot again. You must begin this journey. Practice taking pictures. Collect frames that you like from films for reference. Pay attention to editing transitions. Write down all the ideas that come to your mind. Maybe one idea does not seem very strong to you, but when you connect a few ideas, something worthwhile will come out. I sat and watched all the first shorts and first feature films of my favorite directors to  understand what they were at the beginning of their creative paths. As  in situation in life, when things do not work out, do not despair!

[Answers in Russian as typed by Anzor Mulkoev, who provided an explanation of his name.]

1. ??? ??? Anzor, ? ??????? Mulkoev. ? ??? ???????? ??????? ????? ??????? ?? ????? ?????? ??? ???????? ???????, ???? ????? Mulkho ? ????? ????? ??????? ?? ??????? ????? ?????????? Mulkoev.2.?? ??????????? ? ???????-????????? ?? ?????? ????????? ????, ??? ?? ????? ????? ?????? ?????? ?????. ?? ?????? ?????? ???? ??????????????? ? ??? ?????????? ?????? ? ?????????. ?? ????? ? ??? ???? ????? ????????? ?? ???? ???????? ????? ????? MovieBand ? ???? ??? ?????? ? ??????? ?????? ? ????? ?? ? ??? ????? ??? ???? ????? ??????. ? ???????, ??? ? ???? ????, ??? ????? ??????? ???? ???? ??? ??? ?? ????? ????????? ?????? ???? ? ??????????????? ? ??? ????????, ?????????, ????????, ???????? ? ?????, ?????? ????? ?????????????? ??????? ???? ????????? ? ???????, ??????? ? ? ???????? ?? ?????.3. ??? ????? ????????? Akira Kurosawa ? ??? ??????? ??? ??? ??????? ?? ?????? ??????????? ??? ??? ????? ?????? ???? ???? ? ??????? ? ???????? ?????????? ??? ?????.
   ? ??????? ? ????? ?????? ?????? ? ???? ???? ???????? “??????” ?????????? ? ????????? ?????? ????? ???????? Alfreda Hitchcock ? ????? ? ??? ??? ??????? ?? ?????? ????? ?????? ?? ?????.
   ???? ?????????? ????? ??????? ?????????? ??????????? ? ??????? Jhon Woo ? ???????? ????? ???????? ? ???? ???.
   ??? ?? Sergio Leone ? ??? ???????? ???????? ????? ???????? ????.
   ? ????? ?????? Guy Ritchie ? ???? ????? ???????????? ???? ? ???????, ????? ??? ????? ?? ?????? “Gamekeeper”.
   ? ??????? ????????? ???????? Leonid Gayday ??? ??????? ????? ?????????????? ?????? ???.3. ?  ??????? ????? “Dial M for Murder” ? ?????? ??? ?????-????? ?????????? ?? ????? ? ?? ??????, ?????? ?? ??? ? ?????? ?????? ???? ????? ????? ??? ??????? ????? ?????????? ????? ??????????. ????? ?????? ?????? ? ???????????? ?????? ??????? ??????? ? ?????? ? ???? ??????????????? ?????? ???? ????? ??? ????? ? ???????????? ??????? ?????????? ????? ????????? ???? ? ???? ??? ???????? ??????????. ??? ? ????? ??????? ????? ??? ???????? ????? ???? ??? ????????, ??? ??????????????? ????????? ? ?????????? ??????????? ????? ??????? ? ????? ?????? ????? ??????? ?? ??????? ??? ????????, ??? ???????? ???????????????????? ? ?????????? ????? ?? ?.

   4. ?? ?????? ??????? ??? ? ??????????? ??? ?????????? ??????? ?? ????? ?? ?????? ????????????. ? ??? ???????????? ????? ???? ????????? ????? ?? ???????????? ??? ????????????? ????????????.

   5. ??????????? ???? ????? ??????? ???????? ?? ? ??? ???????? ?? ????? ??????????? ??????? ??? ????????? ???????? ? ??????? ??? ???????? ?? ??? ?? ??????? ? ??? ????? ? ?? ????? ????????? ? ? ????? ??????? ????????????? ? ??? ??????? ?????? ?? ?????? ? ???????? ?? ????????? ?? ??? ???? ?? ?? ????? ???????? ? ??? ????????? ???? ?? ??????? ???????? ????????? ? ???? ?????? ????????. ??? ???? ???????? ??? ???????? ? ?????? ????? ???? ????????? ? ????? ? ??????????? ??? ??????????????, ??????? ?????? ?????? ???? ? ????? ????? ?????-????? ???? ? ?????? ??? ?????-?????.

   7. ? ??????? ????????? ? ???? ???? ?? ???????? ?? ??? ????????? ? ??? ???? ????? ?????? ???????? ? ? ????? ??????? ??? ??? ?? ????????. ??????????? ?????????? FilmicPro ? ??????? ?? ??? ?????? ??? ????? ??????????. ??? ?????? ? ??? ? ????? ?????????????? ? ?????????.

   8. ?????? ????????? ?????? “????? ????????, Iphone ? ?????? ???????” ?? ???? ?? ?????????? ? ??? ???????????? ??? ????? ??????? ? ?? ????? ????????? ? ??? ??????? ???????? ??????? ?????. ? ???? ?? ?????????? ????????? ??????? ??? ?? ? ?????????? ?????  “? ???? ???? ???????? ???????? ? ??????? ??????? ??????? ???..!” ??????? ?? ??? ?? ?????????. ??? ?????????? “????? ???? ? ?????? ??? ?? ???? ? ????” ????? ????? ??????? ???? ?????? ???????? ?? ??????? ??????? ??????????????? ? ????? ???????, ??????? ? ????? ???????, ?? ?????? ?????? ???? ????. ????????????? ???????? ?? ????? ??????? ?? ?????? ?? ???????, ??????? ???? ???? ????? ????????????? ?????? ?? ??????? ??? ?????????, ??? ?? ????????? ?????????, ??????????? ??? ???? ??????? ??? ???????? ? ??????, ???????? ???? ???? ??? ????????? ?? ????? ??????? ?? ????? ?? ????????? ?????? ? ????????? ????????? ???? ??????, ??? ?? ???????. ? ????? ? ??????? ??? ?????? ???????????????? ? ?????? ?????????????? ?????? ??????? ??????????, ??? ?? ?????? ????? ??? ???? ? ?????? ?????? ??????????? ????. ? ????? ??????, ??????? ??? ????????? ???????? ? ????? ????? ? ??? ?????? ?? ?????????? ???????? ??????????? ? ?? ????????????!