- Emmanuil Gedeonovich, have you visited the Caucasus after having left it to enter the Leningrad Institute of Theatre, Music and Cinematography?
- I am grateful for the opportunity to remember those far-off years of my stay there, in our countries, as today they are two different countries. I was born in Baku, despite the fact that all of my relatives and friends are from Odessa. It so happened. My father graduated from an Odessa institute and was sent to Baku. I remained there for a very short period of time, for three years only.
The next stop in the Caucasus was Stavropol. Later I spent time there in summer camps, in sanatoria with my parents, I am talking about Pyatigorsk, Yessentuki... We have been breathing this air for many years. I've known many people and I still know them. A great number of my colleagues grew up in those lands, and then, unfortunately, many of my colleagues, and yours as well, were buried in that land. And we, those who remain, should remember it. Memories are a heritage for our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren. The Caucasus is a piece of land... And if you've been there, and particularly if you were born there, then you will certainly always think about it and remember it forever and ever. So for me, the people who live or stay there now are just people. This should never be forgotten. They are people, just like you.
- The fundamentals of state cultural policy are now being developed. What do you think the government could do in this domain?
- My profession is related to culture. I understand very little about smelting plants and other industries, although I lived different jobs many times in a huge number of movies. But, of course, culture is very important to me, despite the fact that culture on a national scale in terms of percentage holds last place. I think this is absolutely unfair. When I am talking about culture, I don't mean only theater, cinema. I'm talking about culture in general. The state has to invest in culture much more than it does now. When culture is not funded we see deplorable results. However, despite everything, we remain optimistic. The only desire of my colleagues is for people sitting in the audience in theaters, cinemas and concert halls, to know that it is only done for people, for no one else.
