Narine Abgaryan: ‘Children should remain children’
In Kazan, writer Narine Abgaryan and actress Nonna Grishaeva talked about “Manyunya”
When childhood becomes the basis for art, it comes to life anew — in books, on the screen, in the laughter of the audience. This is exactly what was discussed at the Tau Children's Book Festival: how to preserve the warmth of memories and pass it on to a new generation. The film “Manyunya: Adventures in Moscow” gathered a full hall of children, and an online meeting with Narine Abgaryan and a live performance by Nonna Grishaeva became a vivid conclusion to the session.
“I was happy to remember my childhood”
Narine Abgaryan joined the meeting online: “I remember how I laughed when I was writing a book. Because it was very pleasant for me to remember my childhood. We had a very tumultuous childhood. And Ba was really like a thermonuclear winter here.” The writer said that many of the book's scenes are not fiction, but reality, albeit slightly embellished. “There is an episode in the book where one girl's brother blows up a toilet bowl. In fact, I blew up the toilet when I was older than my characters.” Abgaryan laughed, remembering how she transferred personal pranks to her characters, but warned that it was better not to repeat this.
Tatarstan took a special place in the conversation. “I love Tatarstan very much. I fell in love with it after Guzel Yakhina's novel “Zuleikha Opens Her Eyes”. It was a discovery for me: culture, dishes, an amazing world.” Narine noted that her visit to Kazan was an inspiration.
Abgaryan also shared with the audience that she had never planned to become a writer. “I had a blog where I just posted stories from my childhood. And my future publisher saw this blog. That's how the book appeared, which suddenly became popular," the writer said.
“It's an absolute nostalgia for me”
Nonna Grishaeva took to the stage of the hall after the screening of the film. Her voice, which came to life on the screen in the role of Ba, instantly reminded the audience of the hoarse temperament of the heroine. “Janik Faiziev called me and said, 'We need to save this, the actress has too strong an accent.” I came, tried it out and somehow immediately got into the role of Ba," Grishaeva recalled.
Working on the film turned out to be difficult. “I can't speak for more than a few hours because I'm losing my voice. If I had known then that it would be so hard, it's not a fact that I would have agreed. But now I've been told that this is definitely the last film. The girls have grown up. It's probably lucky for me," Nonna Grishaeva said.
At the same time, the work on Ba brought the actress back to her own childhood. “My childhood was spent in the wonderful city of Odessa, in the Soviet Union. At the age of 10, I entered the operetta theatre. My whole childhood was connected with my profession," she shared her memories.
In the film “Manyunya: Adventures in Moscow” Grishaeva especially remembered the episode when she first saw Yuri Nikulin. “It seemed impossible to me. But it turned out that everything is possible," added Nonna Grishaeva. The thing is that there really was a young Nikulin in the film. His image was created with the permission of the heirs using a neural network.
Why is it important to return to childhood
Books and films about childhood become bridges between generations. In the film “Manyunya”, children who grew up on modern gadgets laugh at stories about blown up toilets and thermonuclear Ba. But, as Abgaryan stressed, it is important for the audience to return to the books. “At all meetings with children, I ask: computers or childhood, as in “Manyunya”? And they answer that they would choose childhood, as in “Manyunya”. These books bring us back to the simple, the real," the writer summed up.
However, despite the success, there will be no continuation of “Manyunya”. “The characters have grown up and childhood is over. Childhood, a time of carelessness, can be destroyed if I write a sequel. Because children should remain children," Narine Abgaryan summed up.
Ekaterina Petrova — literary reviewer of Realnoe Vremya online newsppaer, author of Poppy Seed Muffins telegram channel, and founder of the first online subscription book club Makulatura.