I used to say that each film shoots itself. Film, like an animal or creature, chooses what it needs, what it wants, for living. And I am absolutely a person who believes in the fate of the film. If a film is huge, it wants to be huge. If it wants to be a chamber piece, then it will be a chamber piece. If a film needs this actor, this actor will be free. For instance, now I’m working on a new film, and I have an episode that I was hesitant about. I wasn’t sure if it was necessary or not, but I left it in and decided that we could just fix it in the edit if we couldn’t find the right actor for the scene. Then we found a guy who told us, “Okay, I’m free. I’m happy to do it.” And then he broke his leg! It was then that I understood that the film doesn’t want this episode. So I cut it out.

Kirill Serebrennikov, interviewed