Stereotactic x Storyboard P

Independent Moscow collective Stereotactic have created Troika, a triptych of poetic and explosive films, reinterpreting the moves of Storyboard P into three completely differently styled films. Check out the films below, and read the interview with Storyboard here.

The first film is presented in a stunning black and white, on 35mm film - moving from the depths of forest to the centre of concrete jungle New York City. Music by Vtgnike. 

In the second part, Storyboard's body is zapped into the realm of technology and turned into a psychedelic animation. Music by OL, and visual effects were done by Mark Fingerhut. 

In the final film, Storyboard redefines the rules of gravity in a continuous take of pop ‘n lock, as he rolls right into a Papaya Dog on Avenue of the Americas. Music by Vtgnike.

How did the idea of Troika come about? Where did these three highly deviating styles come from?

Stereotactic: First, Alex came up with the idea of bringing the African tribe to the streets of New York, creating cultural conflict and an identity wash-out story. At some point, we realised it would never work with actors - and bringing the real tribe to US is just something we couldn’t afford time- and money wise, so we put the idea on the shelf. Later on however, we were so impressed by a book by Hans-Thies Lehmann called Post-dramatic Theatre - and so came back to the old idea with a new approach. We changed the script more than 10 times, but we knew the idea should be expressed through body language.

How did the collaboration with Storyboard P happen?

Stereotactic: We started thinking about casting and Alex showed the script to his friends, who had working experience with Storyboard. A few days later, Alex met with Storyboard and his manager - they had a 30 minutes talk and then Storyboard just danced in the apartment for three hours in a row. 
After that meeting, Alex had no doubts we needed Storyboard P for this shoot and stopped looking for any other options. The shoot itself was a lifetime experience but it was definitely not easy. Story is a special person to work with, though he is definitely a genius.

You’ve recently opened up an office in New York - how will the two offices in NY and Moscow work together? And why New York? 

Stereotactic: Alex Khudokon is part of the company, and he lives between Moscow and NYC – just like a number of our Russian friends constantly living there. We also had a number of international projects during the last year and a half, so we thought it would a good idea to start a small branch in New York.

What do you think of the current film scene in Russia - what talents are you excited about? 

Stereotactic: Mainstream scene is fucked up, that’s all I can say. Though there are a number of names in art house and documentary film who are creating incredible work, but those are all people a decade or two older than our generation. Theatre is doing much better in Moscow now – it’s the place where 25-30 year-old’s start to find their voice and you can really feel it. It seems like film is missing an important part as significant themes of the last 10 years have mostly been ignored by directors and artists. The Russian film market is the first who is responsible for that. So far, I see no other way for the young to start than through independent filmmaking, hard work and optimism.

Who and what inspires your work?

Stereotactic: We are orphans of contemporary culture. Surrounded by the post-Soviet scenery and absorbing different influences – from Bergman and Herzog to stupid jokes and videos of stoned teenagers from (social network) VKontakte. There are influences from the traditions of mysticism, documentaries about physics, Bosch and hip hop, Russian TV trash, metal and noise, Detroit techno and Deleuze. All that as well as something very concrete from each culture constitutes this random hallucination that you follow and try to define.