Santa Fe Film Festival - Dying to Live
After being diagnosed with a terminal illness, Jesse bonds with a much older patient who teaches him that there is no time like the present to live his dreams.
Interview with Director Ilya Rozhkov
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Thank you! Its... a long list of reasons, and in the end it all comes down: to entertain, to emotionally involve, to share an important message, to make you think.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
There is a big chance that this film is about you. In ways it is about nearly everyone. It touches upon the choices one makes everyday and sometimes under such radical circumstances as in the film.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
"It’s not the years in life that count. It’s the life in your years.” A famous quote by Abraham Lincoln which still resonates today as much, as it will tomorrow. Waking up every day, having that thought in mind makes one's life better. Reminding ourselves about that I find important.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development and production?
The script is not a precise scientific blueprint and a story is a living organism. There is this old saying that you write the movie three times: on paper, on set and in the editing room. However in the end of the day the film turned out to be very close to the original script, surpassing it in places. Aleksander Ristic (Jesse), John C. Colton (George), Suzy Stokey (Nurse McTaggart) and all the cast members brought a lot to their characters, making them truly alive.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
The feedback was positive, mostly touching on the "movie flies by", "the characters touched me", "it made me think and feel". That feedback left producers, actors, key creatives and myself very happy.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
The feedback we received was what were hoping to receive. Although we weren't expecting - "Oh my god, I can't believe it's been 22 minutes, the time passed so fast. Feels more like 10."
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
On top of the entertainment aspect, I really hope that the film would make audience members feel and think. And I hope the theme would find its way into their hearts.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Do I have dreams? If I knew I'd die today, would it change something about how I spend my day?
What are the key creatives developing or working on now?
With the majority of the key creatives of Dying to Live, we worked together on the previous film I directed called Sabre Dance. Now, we are working on something very new, exciting and different from the films we've made before.
Interview: December 2016
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Dying to Live
After being diagnosed with a terminal illness, Jesse bonds with a much older patient who teaches him that there is no time like the present to live his dreams.
Length: 22 minutes
Director: Ilya Rozhkov
Producer: Jainardhan Sathyan, Radhika Womack
Writer: Ilya Rozhkov and Tammy Anne Fortuin
Biography
Ilya Rozhkov -DIRECTOR - is a New York Film Academy graduate and an award-winning director, known for his festival hit Sabre Dance, a ‘Wes-anderson-esque’ short starring Greg Louganis as Dali and is currently developing several new projects.
Radhika Womack - PRODUCER - is a New York Film Academy graduate in Producing for Film and has a large number of short films, documentaries, music videos and a feature films; Sabre Dance, Call of the Wolf, Back to Fort Russell and Tell Me a Memory.
Jainardhan Sathyan - PRODUCER - is a filmmaker, producer and a content technologist. Sathyan has over fifteen years experience lies in creative development and content production for advertisers with networks and studios.
Key cast: Aleksander Ristic, John C. Colton, Suzy Stokey
Made in association with: New York Film Academy
Release date: April 14-th, 2016