“August. The eighth” is our answer to false “Five days in August”

The new film about the war in South Ossetia will be soon released.
Janik Fayziev is the actor, producer and the director, whose works don't leave indifferent. He has put “Turkish gambit” on motives of the novel of Boris Akunin which received the weight of positive responses, was the film producer of “Admiral”, worked with popular programs on television.

In February a new film of Janik Fayziev “August. The eighth” will be released. Already the name speaks about what this picture will be. The critics have already hastened to notice that it is the third feature film in the world about the events on the Caucasus in 2008. We have already told about a crazy film cranberry “Five days in August” and after watching of fragments of the film “August. The eighth” which was represented by the director at a meeting with the representatives of mass media, the correspondent of the portal “The world and we” has drawn an unequivocal conclusion: it is necessary to watch this film by all means!

And not because it is told there who is good and who is bad – the film is really qualitative; plus the advanced computer technologies are used there. It shows the war by eyes of the young woman, the mother of the seven-year boy who as the fates decree has appeared in the scorching heat of fights.

There are no superfluous questions when you see a scene of shooting down of Tskhinval by “Grad”. Janik Fayziev has underlined that he didn't think of the politics, he shot film just about the person. But others thought and even have defined that a film which, by the way, nobody see yet, is “the Kremlin propagation”. Such conclusion was made by Merab Gagua who has written the whole article in this respect on the Internet portal “Georgia Online”. Naturally, he has seen the distortion of real events … The unique expert: the film is not yet showing in cinemas, but he already knows everything!

And that has told Janik Fayziev, whom equally both Russia and Uzbekistan consider as friend:

- For us the war is a misfortune, the same as volcano eruption, earthquake, accident. And this misfortune, about which we speak, can happen with any of us at any moment.

The idea of a film was born when I listened to the friend. The plot priming is a real reality situation. The political journalist actually has departed to the girlfriend to South Ossetia and the war has begun … It is about the life; there is no politics here, it could happen with you and could happen with me.


We have avoided that is called as the word “dismembered body” in a film, the blood didn’t splash in all directions … The war is cruel not because it kills and breaks off human bodies; the war is cruel because it destroys a material world habitual for us. It destroys the subjects which we carefully gather in order to help us to live; their death is a subject of our consideration in a film.

We have restored the chronicle of events. Really, the shells dropped each seven seconds over the time of whether six or eight hours from the very beginning of shelling according to the statistics. All that the spectator will see on the screen, corresponds to that occurred actually. I have communicated with a considerable quantity of people, and, as to military actions, so I hadn't to invent something. It is all the stories from the different people, gathered together. And the roof which has failed on road and the padded car were real. Not always the artist should be proud that he took all from the life – there should be a place to art fiction. But in this case the truth was so inventive that we hadn't to think out something …

One more side of a film, as I name it is the story of professional war. While I collected the materials, I have found out contrary to ordinary opinion and the standard representation on how it occurs that there are a lot of professional, really operating, serious and such supermen in our army in good sense. And I have communicated with these people; has pulled out the guys who are engaged in computer graphics that they have listened to these scouts. The conversation was planned on duration of one and a half hours, but have spoken all eight hours!

Then guys have told that they had such feeling as if they are in a computer game … Such feeling has arisen, when they have heard, as these guys work, what they get up – they do things literally on the verge of human possibilities. Also it is the truth! But after all it is not the group “Alpha”, not the special troops, not super elite divisions but usual army intelligence service.

Not so long ago I have called the military pilots that they have helped me to write the dialogues – the negotiations between the pilots. It was necessary to make not to admit the errors. Also the present military pilot has arrived– the fighting officer with a considerable quantity of operation flights. He has looked at an episode, then has approached to me and told: “Look at my palm. You see, it is wet!” I have asked what does it mean. He has answered: there is such feeling that I have appeared in the war, but not the military person, but the civil one. All as in the present fight …

Here I have understood that we managed to achieve to what we aspired – to show the war by eyes of not military man.

I consider that, the more the films on any theme, the better for everybody and for spectators in particular. The film “Five days in August” I started to watch, but through five or seven minutes has stopped, as it was very boring show. Especially, if I correctly understand, the political problems stood before this film. But nobody still could solve the political problems by an artistic image! And it is not surprising that this cinema wasn't succeeded. It wasn't possible from any party and political problems haven't been solved especially.

We didn't put any political aims before ourselves. We didn't have a goal to prove to someone who is right who is guilty … We didn’t have a goal to look into the International court. I know that there are more than 3000 cases there: these are claims for the relation of Georgia from the party and South Ossetia and Russia. And if there is a desire to specify the documentary underlying reason, so thank God, there is an Internet now – it is possible to find everything there, to look, esteem and draw own conclusions.
Concerning the possible claims … Probably, everyone remembers from the youth: if you have filled a muzzle to someone, so this person always remains dissatisfied. Always the party which still had bruises and cones, considers that your and fist is more that everything is unfair and so on … Therefore I even don't study these claims. For certain, they will be and already is. But at that part of the population which behaves very ignobly.

I have many acquainted Georgians who have been involved in this conflict – they understand that it was the strategic error of the management of Georgia and it was ridiculous … The politically correct people understand that the game of politics was high enough! Because if Russia hasn't reacted how it has reacted, so the political losses of Russia would be huge on international scene! They are expressed in many things – in economic, political – but they would be simply huge.
This conflict was absolutely pure for Russia from the documentary, legal point of view! Russia more than ever, even as any country for all last history, had all bases to act as it has acted. And it has given a strong change of the countries in the relation to Russia which concerned it, we will tell so, with mistrust.

Before putting the heroes into the conflict, I should study a situation in detail enough. And I have studied it. Do you know, what became the determinant for me? I have got to know that approximately for the tenth day after the end of war the independent press of the USA has apologized before the readers that incorrectly reported the first days of war … And it reported wrongly for the simple reason: the Georgian government has appeared very competent on PR service work. They have prepared the press releases in advance and have dispatched them literally on the tenth minute from the war beginning. And these press releases, having got to news agencies, have helped to create a sensation. And as there were the Olympic Games, two weeks have left for examination …

There is no the Georgian-villain in a film who sucks the blood of babies … We have no the image of the personal enemy, we have an enemy as the act of nature. I have read the memoirs in Internet of the Georgian guys, graduates of schools who have taken away in army. They didn't have a choice; there was nothing to do with the beginning of war except to jump, run and start to shoot … They are not competent military men, they are simple inhabitants, but they don't have other way. But they are the soldiers: if you will not shoot, so somebody will shoot at you. It is a situation of small screws in machinery of government.

The film will be shown in the CIS countries. In Georgia? I think that isn't … If there are any problem people who say that Russia was wrong, so we can show the film. And all questions will be solved. But, I will repeat, the offended will be always offended …