7x4: An Interview with Alexander Sinkevich

Please tell us about the projects you worked on before making ‘7x4’. How did you start, and how did you learn to make films?

I’m 50, and "7x4" is my debut film for a wide audience — perhaps I’m the oldest first-time director here? :) Before this, I only created amateur photos and video clips for friends. Though skilled in photo/video techniques and editing, my real training came from writing lectures, essays, and sonnets (I’ve adored poetry since childhood). Recently, I’ve focused on haiku — their brevity captivates me. I compose in Russian, but for haiku, Belarusian feels uniquely resonant. Last autumn, I serendipitously began learning piano; this "belated skill" became vital for "7x4".

Yet the true catalyst was personal turmoil. The film emerged from my midlife crisis — a journey to reinterpret pain and sublimate it into art.

Tell us about ‘7x4’. How do you describe it?

"7x4" is my "Glass Bead Game" with Hermann Hesse’s "Steppenwolf", played on the board of Eurasian traditions. I reread the novel at the same age and in similar circumstances as Hesse when he wrote it. My dream to adapt it materialized when AI offered an unexpected solution: to visualize the elusive "shadows" of the psyche — the anima, memories, and echoes of loved ones — I needed something beyond human actors.

AI, trained on my own image/voice, became the perfect tool. The key was preserving authenticity, not caricature. This technological alchemy, I believe, is part of the film’s resonance.

Ironically, I made "7x4" only for myself — a ritual to overcome crisis. But seeing others resonate with it worldwide (and the festival awards!) has been a joyful shock. Now I feel compelled to continue in cinema.

Please tell us about your favorite filmmakers.

I cherish layered cinema rooted in tradition: Fellini, Kurosawa, Bergman. For "7x4", Tarkovsky’s "Nostalghia", "Mirror", and "Stalker" were vital compasses.

Yet levity matters too! The Coen Brothers and Woody Allen taught me to weave self-irony into heavy themes — like oxygen in a sealed room. Here, I must thank my sister Olya: her humor and radiance inspired Hermina’s character. Don’t believe me?

That’s our beloved father in the center — making "7x4" a hymn to family bonds. But I digress... ;)

If you were given a good budget, what would be your ideal project?

Given "7x4" was my first film, even a short was daunting. With resources, I’d expand it into a feature — perhaps two parts — to explore the real-life fragments hinted at in the haiku. Each of us hosts "shadow selves"; I’d unveil these facets, reflecting how cherished people live within us. The framework? Hesse again: "Narcissus and Goldmund", "Siddhartha", and "The Glass Bead Game". 

Describe how you would ensure that production is on schedule. What steps would you take?

By day, I’m an IT consultant — project management is my profession. Scheduling is innate to me. But the true secret? Trusting your team. People over plans!

As for my process: I immerse completely. "7x4" took two weeks of total focus — but only because I had half a year of raw footage, a lifetime of books/films, and a heart ready to burst onto the screen.

What was the hardest part of making ‘7x4’.

The scattered material — clips, photos, haiku, music — lacked a skeleton. I built it in two stages: first, a mini-film ("4x4") with four haiku; later expanded to seven, framed by the prologue/postscript. The real battle was editing: how to add without diluting the core? Each haiku needed autonomy yet cohesion.

Take the spider photo:

This image haunted me. I took it by the Dnieper River — a sacred Slavic waterway — during a walk in despair. I live in Orsha now, and that day, I found paradise: a creek in a ravine with ancient monks’ caves... Silence, birdsong, icy water. At noon, the sun pierced the gorge. I looked up and saw this spider, awoken from hibernation, marveling at the light with me. Only later did I realize: it was the winter solstice. The sun "paused" in its legs... and from that day, my darkness began to shrink. That’s why the spider opens my haiku series — a tiny guardian of hope.

If possible, tell us about your next work. What plans do you have for your future work?

I’m sketching a feature-length expansion of "7x4". Parallelly, I’m crafting a short contemplative film — a visual retreat to share the places, faces, and moments that heal me.