RENATA LITVINOVA ETERNAL RENAISSANCE 

Interview

Over a year ago, the undisputed star of our time settled in 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 who have left Russia, she is starting over. And this new path will be one of happiness.

"Today, I am nobody, but soon I will be extremely important to the people who recognize me." begins by telling Renata's story, continuing: "I know the positive or the negativeBut not indifference. From nothing, I will become something. Starting my life over, I feel young again, discovering everything anew. I woke up this morning feeling like the most astonished person in the world. I'm stunned, I'm in shock, I can't seem to recover from what's happened. But it's amazing that it hasn't made me a meaner, more broken person. I'm surprised in every sense of the word, but it hasn't broken me, hasn't burned me. 

For many years, Renata has been creating projects, bringing together multiple creative forces in her fragile hands: screenwriter, director, leading actress… “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 with them.” “The only thing Renata regrets is that it’s not possible to be in two places at once, both behind and in front of the camera. It’s easier for her to do everything herself, with the help of just two people, reliable friends whose work she never checks and whose brilliant results she never doubts: the musician Zemfira Ramazanova and the artistic director of Balenciaga, Demna Gvasalia. It was Gvasalia who designed the dresses for the play.” Cactus, which the public has been able to see since the beginning of the year in Paris, London and Limassol. "I told Demna : “First, the audience has to recover from the sight of the dresses. Then, they have to grasp what the piece is about. Next, 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 sense, this performance is a work on ourselves where we fill ourselves with a concentrated dose of art.” Work on the play had begun before the war. A story about the beginning of a love and its separation, which is a tragedy for everyone and which Renata manages to describe 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 also what happiness is: transforming your unhappiness into happiness. For me, love is something bloody. Does a happy life exist? Perhaps so, for some people, but I haven’t met any.” 

Renata Litvinova is an iconic actress and director of modern art-house cinema. A niche artist who cherishes her privacy, 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, compete with me, and be like me. But they are extraordinary intellectuals, aesthetes. And part of the public shows great skepticism towards strong-willed female artists, especially men.” 

Renata is a recognized style icon and a model of feminine beauty. For the past five years, she has been the friend and muse of Demna Gvasalia, dressing in his extraordinary gowns: “Demna is such a big deal, a truly exceptional person! A brilliant artist, he swept away everything old in fashion to launch something entirely new, achieving a kind of revolution. Nothing suits me better than his dresses. I have one, then a second, then a third… and I need 150 more! Demna is currently creating a dress for me; I can’t reveal everything yet, as it’s a secret, but I will tell you what it is. You remember Princess Diana’s revenge dress, which allowed her to get her revenge on Prince Charles without saying a word? Such a striking dress, no matter what, despite everything. The dress I will have will be stunning in a completely different way, but the creative work is done.” 

Transforming a forced emigration into creative expansion, Renata observes that here in France, there is curiously more work and freedom: "Perhaps at the dawn of my seventh life, like cats, I will calm down and become a simple writer. And as my grandmother predicted, I will know my true success when I write a great book. Perhaps I will describe my life in it. And believe me, there will be many chapters!" 

At the end of our conversation, I asked him what was the most difficult thing: “When everything is difficult, let’s choose a moment from 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
The GlowProject
@le_glow_project
By @Mynoanna