RENATA LITVINOVA ETERNAL REBIRTH 

Interview

Over a year ago, the undisputed star of our age moved to Paris. Author of profound and sensual works, director, screenwriter, actress... these multiple talents are just the tip of the iceberg of Renata Litvinova's rich personality and genius. Today, like many people who have left Russia, she is starting afresh. And this new journey will be one of happiness.

"Today, I'm nobody, but soon I'll be extremely important to people who recognize me," Renata begins, continuing: "I know the positive or the negative, but not the indifferent. From nothing, I'm going to become something. By starting my life again, I feel young again, I'm discovering everything all over again. I woke up this morning feeling like the most astonished person in the world. I'm stunned, I'm in shock, I can't get over the events. But it's amazing that this doesn't make me a meaner, more destroyed person. I'm surprised in every sense of the word, but it hasn't broken me, hasn't burned me."

For many years now, Renata has been creating projects, bringing together multiple creative forces in her fragile hands: screenwriter, director, leading actress. .. " I wouldn't have succeeded otherwise. I wouldn't have succeeded otherwise. Otherwise, I have to submit to others, and their perspectives are very narrow. It's interesting for me to work exclusively with geniuses: Kira Muratova, Alexey Balabanov, Peter Greenaway, Rustam Khamdamov, Alexander Mitta, Zemfira. And if someone isn't a genius, it's not worth wasting time on them. " The only thing Renata regrets is that it's not possible to split herself in two to be both behind and in front of the camera. It's more convenient for her to direct everything herself, with the contribution of just two people, reliable friends whose work she never checks and whose brilliant results she never doubts: musician Zemfira Ramazanova and Balenciaga artistic director Demna Gvasalia. It was the stylist who designed the dresses for Cactus, which audiences have been able to see since the start of the year in Paris, London and Limassol. "I told Demna : 'First, the public will have to get over seeing the dresses. Then they have to understand what the piece is about. Then they have to listen to Zemfira's music and understand the meaning of the song, before moving on to a video sequence. The poor spectator is condemned to absorb a lot of information. In a way, this performance is a work on ourselves, where we fill ourselves with a concentrate of art." " Work on the piece had begun before the war. A story about the beginning of love and separation, which is a drama for everyone and which Renata succeeds in describing like no other of her contemporaries: "Pain is always a source of inspiration. When you're happy, you don't write. On the other hand, that's what happiness is all about: transforming unhappiness into happiness. For me, love is a bloody thing. Is there such a thing as a happy life? Maybe there is, for some people, but I haven't met any."

Renata Litvinova is an emblematic actress and director of modern art cinema. A niche artist who preserves her intimacy, she shares her work with millions of viewers and readers: "Women are strangely inspired and at the same time want to appropriate a part of me, to compete with me and be like me. But they are extraordinary intellectuals, aesthetes. And part of the public is very skeptical of women artists with strong personalities, especially men."

Renata is a recognized style icon and model of feminine beauty. For the past five years, she has been Demna Gvasalia's friend and muse, dressing in his extraordinary gowns: "Demna is such a big name, such a great person! A brilliant artist, he has wiped the slate clean of everything old in fashion to launch everything new, achieving a kind of revolution. Nothing suits me better than his dresses. I've got one, a second, a third... and I need 150 more! Demna is designing a dress for me. I can't tell you everything yet, because it's a secret, but I'll tell you what it is. Remember Princess Diana's revenge dress, which enabled her to take revenge on Prince Charles without uttering a single word? Such a striking dress, no matter what, in spite of everything. The dress I'll have will be stunning in a completely different way, but the creative task is accomplished."

Turning forced emigration into creative expansion, Renata notes that here in France, there is curiously more work and freedom: "Perhaps at the dawn of my seventh life, like the cats, I'll calm down and become a simple writer. And, as my grandmother predicted, my real success will come when I write a great book. Maybe I'll write about my life. And believe me, there will be many chapters!"

At the end of our conversation, I ask him what is the most difficult: "When everything is difficult, let's choose a moment in everyday life and focus on concrete problems. Right now, I need to learn French. I read somewhere, "And suddenly she was struck by lightning, and she spoke the purest French!" I'm ready to be struck by lightning for that."

Aleksey Nilov

 

PHOTOGRAPH AND ART DIRECTOR
Eseniya Araslanova
@eseniyaa

PHOTO ASSISTANT
Anton Grebentsov
@grebentsov_

STYLING
Jamie-MareeShipton
@airtomyearth

STYLE ASSISTANT
Malou Beaumont and Yasmine Abbas
@maloubeaumont
@badgalyaas

SET DESIGN AND FLORAL DA
CENTÁ
@centa_project

MUA
Irina Grishina
@irinag_makeup_artist

HAIRSTYLE
Evgeny Zubov
@eugeny_zubov

INTERVIEW
Alexey Nilov
@niloveditor

BACKSTAGE
Nikita Cherniy
@n212yc

PROJECT INITIATIVE AND PRODUCTION
Le GlowProject
@le_glow_project
By @Mynoanna