Celebrating its US premiere today at the 2016 Fantastic Fest is Russian filmmaker Ivan I. Tverdovskiy’s Zoology, a movie about one woman’s journey of self-discovery after she mysteriously sprouts a tail and must contend with all the complications that arise because of her new appendage.
Daily Dead recently had the chance to conduct a Q&A with Tverdovskiy about his sophomore effort and his excitement over Zoology being showcased during this year’s Fantastic Fest.
Congrats on Zoology being a part of this year’s Fantastic Fest. Considering you’re still an up-and-coming directorial talent, how great does it feel to have your film playing alongside so many other notable projects?
Ivan Tverdovskiy: I am very grateful that our film was invited by a North American festival. For me, it’s a kind of debut—my previous film wasn’t invited to many North American Festivals. And now, with Fantastic Fest and TIFF, it’s been very important to me.
Can you discuss how Zoology came about and what inspired this story?
Ivan Tverdovskiy: We sat down with my producers and discussed the time that we are living in—the problems in our society, in politics, people who walk in the crowd with gray faces. What matters to those people? What matters for me? What unites us?
This is how the metaphor of the tail came into existence. It allows us to study a lot in human nature. Also, the tail helps expose many social problems—problems of our medical system and also tolerance and lack of love in mundane life. And it discusses many other very serious topics with a smile and a hint of detachment from reality.
I’m genuinely curious about the filmmaking community in Russia, just because I don’t know much about it myself. How hard is it to make films over there and do you have a good support system in place?
Ivan Tverdovskiy: We have a rather large industry. Of course, it’s not as big as in the US, but it’s bigger than several European film industries. The government finances art projects, but also commercial cinema. Studios get interest-free loans for theatrical releases, and it’s a rather mature and healthy system.
What were the biggest challenges you faced while making Zoology?
Ivan Tverdovskiy: I always do many takes. In this film, there were particularly many takes. Sometimes, our days lasted more than 14 hours. Once, the location where we were shooting lost its electricity. It was a nightmare. We used a hospital that actually used our generator not just for the film, but for treating the patients who were dying. Animals in the zoo were dying because there was no heat in their cages. Our drivers had to stand in huge lines to get gas. No connection, no internet, and our fridges were not working… but we survived!
Heather A. Wixson was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, until she followed her dreams and moved to Los Angeles in 2009. A 14-year veteran in the world of horror entertainment journalism, Wixson fell in love with genre films at a very early age, and has spent more than a decade as a writer and supporter of preserving the history of horror and science fiction cinema. Throughout her career, Wixson has contributed to several notable websites, including Fangoria, Dread Central, Terror Tube, and FEARnet, and she currently serves as the Managing Editor for Daily Dead, which has been her home since 2013. She's also written for both Fangoria Magazine & ReMind Magazine, and her latest book project, Monsters, Makeup & Effects: Volume One will be released on October 20, 2021.
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