Interview with legend. 85-year-old Ada Rogovtsev's movie star-about life during the Great War and Nightmares of his military childhood
Video of the day in July Rogovtseva turned 85 she met, as she wanted - on stage. Over the last two months, the actress has been traveling in Ukraine, presenting a new documentary from the East. It is a tape about the modern Ukrainian struggle for independence, the purpose of which is to remind that the war for Ukraine began eight years ago, and its price was already high then. For Rogovtseva, this is the second Great War for her life, and today she does a lot to win.
The actress tells how in the first month of a large -scale invasion of her Kiev apartment turned into a place where the defenders of Kiev could wash things, relax and eat. All the following months, like eight years before, she travels to the country, inspiring compatriots with his thoughts and faith. Today is an important contribution to the victory of each of us, says the actress in conversation with HB.
- You still have experienced the Second World War, now you are experiencing Russia's war against Ukraine. What experience did it become for you? - Those who survived that war could not imagine that people would ever experience what we experienced in those years. And although the war then Buda is completely different, as well as now - everywhere bombs fell, we were in occupation, for some time we had Germans in the house, and all the horrors that were only possible, fell to the fate of my family.
Through the city we had a concentration camp of our prisoners of war, it was scary - they said that people even ate the viscera. So my childhood went among the fact that someone was able to pull out of that concentration camp, and these saved ones often died with us in the stove, and we tried to treat their wounds, rescue, rake worms, filled with ash, and all the medicines were . . . But some of those of those were People, they survived and came to us after the war, thanked for life.
I then realized that even your little help, everything you can do, you have to do, because it sometimes saves a person of life. Now I am alarmed that we all have to be mobilized, everyone in our city, wherever it is: at the table where he eats, in the bed where he sleeps - he should come to the rescue. Both in general, and the individual who needs this help. But the war was also terrible, but the post -war times were more terrible.
The war ended, and the famine began, mental manifestations of people who survived it all, because healthy people were not left after the war, so while it was somehow balanced, I became quite adult. I have survived one war, and now I have a friend. I survived Chernobyl, and now they shoot on energy. So what talks about my life and my destiny and what I'm afraid of? I'm afraid of those who are younger than me, who else to live and live.
- Over the last ten years, Ukrainians have returned a lot from their historical memory. Now people understand that this war should be completed by victory over Russia, because otherwise our children will have to continue it.
We return knowledge about Ukraine and Ukrainian culture, and here is the question: what was the Ukrainian culture, how did it appear since the middle, when it was not very possible to speak about it in Soviet times? - You know, recently she heard one Russian journalist said that Russian literature was better than Ukrainian and Ukrainian is weak.
But our literature was mutilated, all the best were destroyed by the Soviet region for almost a century, and those who remained and created despite everything - did not print, wipe, and people do not know them. Therefore, the majority is not accustomed to Ukrainian literature, but what was worthy of reading, in my years, it seemed to be self -vision, Tamvidat, lists. We were given books for one night, we read them, copied them and passed on.
And now, in recent years, this Ukrainian literature is such that you admire it, you choke with pride and gratitude. I am delighted with how serious it is and how much it sounds at the world level. But who reads? People were reading, somewhere they obeyed something, they saw something and went further, and to go away - there is no time, and it is important, this time spent on literature, because these texts create us. But now the war, and it is surprisingly encouraging to go away.
See how wicked, great audiences, and in the war, they listen to the war. Large full halls are collected for money, people reach their own, serious literature, serious poetry, and this movement is very noticeable and I am very happy. In our film, the wind from the east we turned to the works of contemporary Ukrainian authors: Kateryna Babkina, Elena Stepova, Lyubov Yakimchuk, Yurka Izdrik.
- Tell us how the idea of the movie appeared, what do you want to speak with the Ukrainian viewer through this movie? - The idea came from the fact that we have been relevant to the war since 2014. Kateryna Stepankova is an actress, director and my daughter, - my movement began to war. We were accompanied by operator Alexei Stepankov-Tkachenko, my grandson in creative meetings in the East, in our trips.
At his own expense he rented the technique and made everything and everyone, because he understood that everything was history, and he should fix it. Over time, other actors joined us, almost immediately - Akhtem Seitablaev, later Svetlana Orlichenko, Larisa Rusnak, Vladimir Malyarenko - that's all our acting team. And our audio and video companion Alexander Krystal always went with us and technically provided the art of our speeches despite the non-theatrical conditions.
We were constantly traveling to the front line, performing in just liberated cities, in battalions. All this was filmed, we played so much in the Mariupol Drama Theater that not to list. Tens of hours of chronicles, documentary certificates on the events and people of our war have gathered since the summer of 2014. For some people, the war began only today, and I wonder and wonder. In August 2014, we were just liberated by Lisichansk, Severodonetsk, Kramatorsk and Slavyansk, Bakhmut.
Subsequently - in Vodyany, Yuryevka, Urzuf, Volnovak, Avdiivka, Toretsk, in Popasna and their neighboring towns, where our fighters stood. And everywhere they tried to shoot. Now there are almost none of our cities - they are burned by the Russians. But there is our time document, this is our memory of Ukrainian frontier cities, we also want to save it with this movie. Many guys we knew who were in our footage - they are no longer alive. And this is a memory of them first.
- Do you remember what February 24 and days after you? -My grandson in the morning of February 24 came to me in the village near Boryspil and took me to Kiev, there we were there, women and children, the first months, on no day Kyiv. The men went right away, grandson-25th, son-in-law-February 26. They went to a volunteer battalion, now it is an Armed Forces. They are fighting, and we do what we can.
My daughter and my grandson's wife immediately started volunteering, and many people help the soldiers, and I am already by age, only what I can. The first months of the house was opened for the military standing in the city, so she had a lot of household women's work: feed, wash, wash, dry. They wrote videos, spoke with foreign journalists. I respond when they call like an ambassador, when I should inspire, hug, cheer.
A few days ago we were in Vinnitsa from cinema and hugged there, apparently, more than two hundred people. My task is to kiss, to bless, and most importantly - to listen and enjoy, to record a video on your phone for mom or wife, it is all necessary for people too. Now we all have a serious problem with you - we need to help from the captivity of our people, and we need to talk about it everywhere, at all sites, I speak about it, and I call everyone. It is necessary to swing, to make.
- You were one of the first who in 2014 clearly stated their position on the invasion of Russia. In your opinion, where and why did this saying "art out of war" arose? - I say once and for all: no matter what your profession is, a janitor or a world -class actress, when trouble goes to your homeland, you have to become a person who protects this homeland, nothing more important - what your art, posture is in Policy you or not. It is necessary to protect your land, there is no policy.
Here you or you, a person, or there is no person here. - Ukrainians are now quite scattered, someone is at war, someone volunteer, someone is forced to look for asylum. What would you tell people from your long life experience? - I will say what I say to many people I respect deeply and who I interact with. Now it is not necessary, now ours is needed, work to win. The dresses will wait, the handbags will wait, the houses will wait, restaurants and cafes too.
Everything will wait if you need to give to victory. Then it will return to us, because we will not pay for victory and freedom now - then we will pay more expensive, our children will pay. Because great trouble is on the front line, and with trouble we must cope with all together. No one canceled the toloki, no one canceled the meeting, no one canceled the essence of our people. If trouble happens, you need to gather and defend it in a group.