On children in the frame and first kisses, on filming of most complicated surgeries and also on scenes that appeared in the film due to the lockdown – from Roman Tkachenko, director of Lynx (project of FILM.UA Group and Ukraina TV channel)
The narrative of four-episode melodrama is centered on a story of Marina Ryseva, or Lynx as her friends call her. For all her life she’ll love her friend Sasha, live through deceit and unrequited love. Destiny will repeatedly bring Lynx and Sasha together, as if testing them. Will our protagonist forgive her old friend, will she be able to trust him? And will there be a happy end to this story? We’ll find out soon enough…
Director Roman Tkachenko has told us about the most interesting, vivid and memorable moments of the filming period.
«In my opinion, our film crew was the greatest: actors, cameramen, makeup artists, costume designers, light technicians and all the rest. Thanks to these people there was the ambience of trust and mutual understanding on the set. We had only 16 shifts – very active, packed and challenging. And all departments functioned like clockwork and in the best synergy possible, which helped to overcome all challenges. I have the best memories about the filming period. And I believe that we managed to create a nice, beautiful and touching story.»
.jpg)
And even the quarantine, Roman Tkachenko says, has brought something positive. Initially the filming had to start in early spring but due to the pandemic the start shifted to the beginning of summer. And thanks to warm evenings the group managed to film some truly beautiful shots: the summer camp and the protagonists’ bathing in the lake at night.
Naturally, there were challenges. There were young actors in melodrama as well, and it is very difficult to film children! The daughter of main character Masha was played by a six-year-old celebrity of Ukrainian cinema Frosya Melnik.
«Frosya has a lot of acting experience, she did a wonderful job and there were no issues with her,» says Roman Tkachenko. «But with the other kids we had to develop the scenes more carefully. I can’t say it was hard; it’s just that children require more attention and patience on the set. It is important to understand this and help them.»
Roman also had to work with teenagers, the protagonists in their youth. And even though there are no erotic scenes in the film the characters kiss a lot, show their emotions and feelings.
«You know, never before had I filmed kissing teenagers. And our young actors also never had to kiss in the shot. Actually, it was even a real-life first for them on the set, they confessed themselves. During rehearsals, they were extremely embarrassed – and it is clear so I proposed them to touch their cheeks instead. And when we filmed the kissing scene everything went very well, they managed. I think they even liked it,» Roman says.
According to the plot, Marina Ryseva becomes a famous heart surgeon, and the action is set in a clinic where doctors perform three complicated surgeries on screen.
«There was a technical challenge here: we couldn’t film a process with true-to-life accuracy. But we found how to show surgeries in a credible manner and got a very decent result,» says the director.
The lead roles in the film were played by Anastasia Ivanova, Vlad Nikityuk, Anastasia Tsymbalaru, Halyna Kobzar-Slobodyuk, Prokhor Dubravin, and others.
We congratulate the crew on the end of filming and look forward to LYNX premiere on Ukraina TV channel.
Director: Roman Tkachenko
DOP: Markiyan Kanyuka
Screenwriters: Nadezhda Komarovskaya, Aleksey Sivolap
Producers: Viktor Mirsky, Viktoriya Korogod, Natalya Strybuk, Iryna Chernyak, Elena Malkova, Tatyana Nosenko
Cast: Anastasia Ivanova, Vlad Nikityuk, Anastasia Tsymbalaru, Frosya Melnik, Prokhor Dubravin, Galina Kobzar-Slobodyuk, Aleksandr Popov, Elizaveta Zaytseva, and others.
