Today, especially for FIGHT-FILMS.INFO, I will talk with actor, stuntman, fight choreographer and just a good person Sain Farhad. Sain, good afternoon!
Good afternoon!
Every path, including the path of a warrior, has a beginning. Tell us where your journey began - how you came to your first martial art: what kind of martial art it was, who was your first teacher, what was the reason to start practicing: the dangerous realities of the street or the desire to become like action heroes?
Of course, like many, I was inspired by Bruce Lee films as a child, and I am grateful to him for that. As a child, I tried to imitate all his movements. At that time, the father did not have the technical ability to show his son all this via the Internet, but now everything is possible.
When I started martial arts I was 11 years old. I went to Wado Ryu Karate with Master Adil. But over the course of 20 years, he managed to master several more fighting styles. I remember well how I demonstrated my skill in our yard for friends and then not everyone understood what I wanted to do. Now I remember this as a little funny story.
7 years ago I first started to interest directors. Received an invitation to the first role. I won't reveal the name of the film. He played a policeman in the film, but there wasn’t much action there. That's how it all started.
How often have your fighting skills come in handy in real life? And is it useful now?
No. And I never looked for it. You know, they say well: a soldier is a profession, a fighter is a character trait, a warrior is a state of mind.
A warrior does not seek a fight, he seeks an honorable death with honor. Therefore, for a warrior who is alive, honor plays a big role - to live and die with honor. If the fight is not for the sake of protecting honor, then there is nothing to protect. Because every fight is a threat to our lives. Every fight can kill us. For what? That is the question. What you live for is what you die for. Therefore, you need to be careful and wise. As they say, a sapper makes one mistake.
Even if death was due to an ordinary car accident, the intention was to live with honor and die with honor. Therefore, a fight is for a fighter, war is for a warrior.
And yes, war does not only happen between troops. War can be between two people and even within yourself with yourself. This is philosophy and character education.
Tell us about all the martial arts you have practiced and your achievements in them? In which one do you think you revealed yourself more, which one turned out to be closer to your soul and why?
Wado Ryu Karate, Shotokan Karate, Goju Ryu Karate, Kyokushinkai Karate, Jeet Kune Do, Capoeira, Wing Chun, Boxing, Taekwondo, Jiu-Jitsu, Kickboxing.
Achievements: Shotokan Karate - 1 dan, Goju Ryu - 1 dan. Battalion Capoeira - 3rd dan.
Kyokushinkai turned out to be closer to my spirit, as I love discipline, specificity and philosophy. After Kyokushinkai, I also fell in love with Wing Chun - these styles helped me find what I was looking for, but still Kyokushinkai turned out to be the closest.
Tell us about the films that inspired you and inspire you both for your studies and for your soul. And what action films do you recommend for the younger generation?
I don't have any particular favorite action films. I prefer films that promote correct morality, concepts of masculine character, justice, responsibility, and so on. Such films can be made without demonstrating fighting styles. I'm not exactly a fan of action movies myself. I prefer films where the meaning is deep. For example, I watched the film “The Intouchables” 6 times with the participation of Gerard Lanvin, where he played Edmond Vidal.
I used to be inspired by Bruce Lee's films, now I'm inspired by Donnie Yen's films. I cannot advise which particular film to watch for beginners. I myself am still on the path of endless perfection. Everyone can choose a film according to their character and purpose. I watch all the fight scenes in films, but I will give one piece of advice: when watching poorly choreographed fight scenes, try not to delve too deeply into them. But it takes years and experience to distinguish good scenes from bad ones. Masutatsu Oyama said: “To become a fighter, you need to spend 15 years of your life.” This means that to become a professional action actor, you need to spend twice as much in your life on your activities. You may disagree, but this is my opinion. Art requires more than anything.
Tell us how you got into cinema and how you made your first video.
I came to cinema through martial arts. I received an invitation, as I already noted, to play a policeman. But I didn’t have any fight scenes there. The first shoot was with friends from my area. I organized this shooting myself, and everything turned out amateurishly. Technically, everything was so problematic that I could not voice the dialogues. But it was shown with subtitles. In short, a short film in the style of Charlie Chaplin. But it was an experience. We were even proud once. You see, the first steps and the first reviews from people who know you were so inspiring that I didn’t give up and moved on.
Let's talk about further career development. Our reader asks a question - what do you want to achieve in cinema and what goals do you set for yourself in this regard?
Good question. I want to get to the point where I can start making my own films. But this takes years, a lot of experience and practice. I want to implement my ideas and write a script. I’m already preparing one, the genre is drama, thriller, romance. Of course, there are a few action scenes, but they are short and realistic. The goal is to show people the true face of life, and not like in American films with constant happy endings.
Oh, interesting! Do you already have a rough plot? Or is it still kept secret?
I don’t want to talk about it yet. But everything is based on real events. The film will mainly have a psychological view of life, its reality, religious and traditional beliefs, moral principles and different cultures, relationships between men and women.
Which of our martial artists would you like to work with in a movie?
With Jamal Azhigirey. Since childhood, I have liked him as a Master.
People often ask - what is the most difficult thing in filmmaking? Everyone answers differently, what is your answer?
The movie itself =) There are difficulties in any production. But the film script plays a greater role in film production. The difficulties arise from what the script offers. But there is one more point - to find an investor for production. In general, a lot can be said about the difficulties of filmmaking.
Almost everyone I interviewed has their own film team, which will always help, advise and lend a helping hand. Please tell us about your colleagues ("SAINT" Stunt Fighters Group).
I don't have many. Emin Abishov and Tural Shirmammadov, who never abandoned me. Other members of my team have changed a lot. It is difficult to find responsible people who love their creative work more than: “today I have to go to a wedding, it’s a friend’s birthday, I have to meet relatives, there are guests at home, my head hurts today” and all sorts of different reasons. But soon the team will expand, as we have received an invitation to an action movie"Don Marleone", which interested everyone, and the film will premiere on April 19th. I got one of the main roles in conjunction with the main character. In the film, I staged the fight scenes in which I play, acted as an actor and helped others in the fight moments. Previously no one believed us - but now many people want to become a member of our team. But I don’t want to “educate” anyone - I need wise and responsible people who can be trusted.
Emin Abishov and Tural Shirmammadov are people who have been involved in sports since childhood. We practiced various types of martial arts, such as Kudo, Tricking, Capoeira, Taekwon Do and Karate. They often get roles in TV series.
Tell us more about “Don Marleone” - whose production this film is, who the director is and a brief synopsis.
Studio "Black Garden", director Elmar Bayramov.
The film is about how sometimes what happens around us is more like a movie than reality. It even looks like past centuries. American film about gangsters. Events are reminiscent of those times, and people are criminals of those times. Sometimes a person wants to rebel against everything unjust and fight against it, and then put himself in place of the Godfather. Sometimes a person imagines all this so deeply that he ceases to understand where reality is and where illusion is.
You conduct seminars and workshops on fight choreography. Tell us about this area of your activity. How many students do you have, and are there any among them who have achieved any success in this area? What do these seminars consist of and how do they take place?
A little. But soon I want to conduct seminars and workshops mainly for children. Prepare them for a future life in creativity. I hope to look at them in 10 years and be proud. In this I had very few students. Approximately 50-60. Some of them appear in episodes by invitation. I had a lot of students in Karate and Capoeira. But this is different.
At the seminars I mainly teach a complex of knowledge: creating a hero; choreography composition; artistic solution; semantic solution; the principle of working together with the director and cameraman; cameramanship; installation; different fighting styles; acrobatics; imitation of falls. You can say everything related to cinema, knowledge that will help you become a choreographer of fight scenes.
In which films, besides the above-mentioned “Don Marleone”, did you work on staging fight scenes?
"Code of Honor" "Object 77", "Ali and Nino", "Men's Hat", "Don't be afraid, I'm with you! 1919"
And the final traditional question - name 5-10 things to create a successful and simply good film.
Making a successful film is the job of the producer, but making a good film is the job of the director :)
As Leonardo Da Vinci said: “10% talent, 90% practice.” In reality, practice and intuition dictate the right things to create a film that is appropriate to its time. For a good and at the same time successful film, there are still templates that do not change. And in order to create something from templates (I mean, leave general laws, but at the same time create something of your own), you need to create with intuition, then carry out your creation through the mind and finish again with intuition. This is how I would answer this question.
Well, Sain, thank you so much for answering the questions, I wish you and your team success, new films and good people on your Path!
Mutually! Take care of yourself, thank you for your attention, interest and patience. Good luck!
Congratulations on the premiere!
It is likely that we will prepare even more interesting material with Sain in the future.