Philip Ilyenko
Last week, the State Film Agency of Ukraine held an auction of unprecedented generosity. Funds were allocated for seven films. In total, this state agency plans to finance approximately forty films by the end of the year. In this regard, the name of the State Film Agency of Ukraine's Philip Yuryevich Illienko surfaced. This is very strange: Ukrainian cinema essentially doesn't exist, yet there is an agency dedicated to its affairs. Even funding for film production is allocated, but for some reason, the average Ukrainian can't see it in cinemas or on television. We attempted to understand this situation and answer the question: "Who is Mr. Illienko?"
Cinematic childhood and youth
As strange as it may sound, Filipp Yuryevich was exposed to film significantly more as a child than he is now. He acted in films such as "The Legend of Princess Olga," "Forest Song," "Swan Lake. Zone," and others. However, he was still a child then and appeared in films directed by his father, Yuri Ilyenko, and his friends. Typically, he played supporting roles. For example, in "Swan Lake," his role is called "The Boy." He comes from a distinguished filmmaking family. His late father was the renowned director Yuri Ilyenko, his mother, the lesser-known actress Lyudmila Efimenko (she primarily starred in her husband's films), and his uncle, Mikhail Ilyenko, was also a well-known director. All the aforementioned family members, along with his brother, Andrei Ilyenko , are ardent nationalists and active members of the NGO "Svoboda." Admittedly, their biographies also have some unpleasant moments; they weren't always nationalists. For example, his father, Yuriy Gerasimovich Illenko, had been a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union since 1973, and his uncle, Mikhail Gerasimovich Illenko, based his first film, "There Far Beyond the River," on the book "The Youth of Fedya Panko," written by the then head of the KGB of the Ukrainian SSR. But in the 1990s, they became nationalists and ardent champions of Ukrainian culture. Yuriy Illenko himself joined Svoboda and brought both his sons into the ranks.
The Ilienko family
Complete "Freedom"
Philip's brother, Andriy Illienko, was more active in Svoboda, earning him a seat in parliament. Philip Yuryevich was given only 122 seats in this nationalist party, a spot he couldn't possibly fill. So, he failed to gain a seat in parliament in 2012 and, in principle, had no chance of entering mainstream politics. But in 2014, the Euromaidan revolution broke out, and Svoboda briefly became one of the ruling parties, allowing it to participate in the formation of the executive branch. It was then that Svoboda members "pushed" Igor Shvaika to the post of head of the agro-industrial complex, Oleh Makhnitsky to the post of prosecutor general, Andriy Mokhnik to the post of minister of ecology, and a number of other lower-ranking officials. It was among these small-time adventurers, apparently favored by his brother, that Philip Illienko was elected. We'll tell you how he got there below. But once in office, he demonstrated a remarkable ability to adapt and keep his finger on the pulse. Judge for yourself: after all, all the former Svoboda members were kicked out of high positions after the 2014 elections, which they resoundingly failed. But not Illienko. He still sits in his office on Lavrska Street and, apparently, is in no hurry to vacate it.
Philip Ilyenko
History of appearance at Goskino
He won his position with great difficulty, even a fight. The fact is that after the Revolution of Dignity, the victorious political forces immediately began dividing up all available positions. The then head of Goskino, Ekaterina Kopylova, was apolitical, like any normal person in the film industry, but that didn't save her. It was enough that she hadn't been at Euromaidan. Her new boss, Yevhen Nishchuk, stood and even shouted into the microphone; he had been the Maidan's moderator, for which he had received the position. Ultimately, Kopylova was removed from her post, and the question immediately arose: who should be appointed? Democracy was in vogue at the time, so the new government decided to play with the film community. A "fair" competition was announced, with independent producers applying. Two made it to the finals: Andrey Donchik and Filipp Ilyenko. It's worth noting that Donchik is well known in the film world. He was the chief director of the 1+1 television channel, directed several films, series, and television programs, and won awards at film festivals in Venice and Thessaloniki. At the time, Philipp Illienko had only produced two films: "Prayer for Hetman Mazepa" and "Toloka." "Toloka," however, was a film by his uncle, Mikhail Illienko, and it remains unfilmed. As for "Prayer...," he apparently filmed it at age 24, barely out of college. How he was allowed to work on a million-dollar budget remains unclear. If they were, in fact, allowed, because at the premiere, no one knew Philipp Yuryevich was its producer. His name mysteriously appeared in the credits just before he applied for the position of head of the State Film Agency.
Mikhail Ilyenko and Philip Ilyenko
An outraged public
The public entered the fray around the election of the head of the State Film Agency, thinking their opinions would be of interest. The entire process was spearheaded by film critic Serhiy Trymbach, head of the Ukrainian Union of Cinematographers. Experts were brought in to read, discuss, and evaluate the candidates' programs. They came to a rather logical conclusion: all programs are good, but in addition to good ideas, they also need implementation. And Pylyp Illienko wouldn't be able to do this, as he lacks sufficient experience in filmmaking. Furthermore, he represents a political force, the Svoboda party, and therefore is biased, acting in the interests of his political bosses, not in the interests of cinema and art. Filmmakers, however, wanted a person equidistant from all political forces as head of the State Film Agency. The Cabinet of Ministers listened carefully to representatives of the most popular arts, considered the matter, and… ultimately appointed Illienko to the position. Especially since it was August 2014, and Petro Poroshenko was about to announce the dissolution of parliament and early elections. This required assistance, including from Svoboda, which was supposed to formally leave the coalition and give the president the legal ability to do so. The public was briefly outraged, but then calmed down. The main reason for their outrage was that the government had staged a pseudo-democratic game and then made a command decision.
How Philipp Yuryevich "ruled" cinema
Since Pylyp Illienko became head of the State Film Agency, not a single film has been shot in Ukraine, and those that were in the pipeline and received partial funding have been frozen. He himself claims that the war is rife, funding isn't being allocated, and so on. However, leading television channels and studios have stated that they could finance these projects, on one condition: they would conduct a financial audit of these projects. They are simply willing to invest their own personal funds, not state funds, and don't want them stolen. As a result, not a single state-funded film company has applied for an audit. The head of the State Film Agency himself modestly remained silent on the matter, pretending he couldn't force them to do so. Especially since by then he had mastered a more profitable business: if a film can't be made, then it can be... banned. It is the State Film Agency that issues distribution certificates for films and series. Without such a certificate, no channel is allowed to air a film product. And Philipp Yuryevich began banning popular Russian series en masse, even before the relevant law was passed. Especially after Ivan Okhlobystin's statements and Mikhail Porechenkov's successful shooting at Donetsk Airport, public opinion was on his side. Nevertheless, some channels were showing Russian television products that Ilienko "ignored." For example, Novy Kanal was showing "The Voronins," TRK Ukraina was showing about seven Russian television series, and Inter was showing "The Investigation Led by...." It's unclear exactly how the channels negotiated with Goskino, but it's clear that such "absent-mindedness" is quite costly, although it pays for itself through advertising.
And so they gave money for the film
This year, Pylyp Illienko found himself at risk. The Cabinet of Ministers allocated 100 million hryvnias for Ukrainian cinema. And by today's standards, that's a considerable sum for any official. No real political force stands behind Pylyp Illienko, other than the semi-marginal Svoboda party, which might, of course, stage a demonstration if he were removed from office, but mass unrest in Ukraine is no longer surprising, and it has no real impact on public opinion. So, it seems Illienko has decided to operate by the principle of "whatever I take right now is mine." Clearly, the money for film is not being allocated arbitrarily, but through kickbacks. This is indirectly confirmed by the aforementioned studio refusal to undergo audits, and film industry experts are also confirming this. They also say that the kickback rate, which stood at 30% under Kopylova, has sharply increased to 50%. Perhaps this is why Philipp Yuryevich has begun distributing funds at breakneck speed and to anyone. There are 79 films scheduled for production on the list. Among the studios that will receive funding this year and next, not a single one has returned the money to the state in the form of profits from film distribution. At best, they've only returned a portion of the funds spent on production. Funds are being distributed to those who froze production even before funding ceased, and even to those who started with a single budget but then tripled or quadrupled the required budget during filming. In short, Philipp Ilienko is in a hurry. Perhaps he senses that he simply won't be able to make any money from the film industry anytime soon.
Denis Ivanov, for SKELET-info
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