“I remember going to the Tambov region in early 2008 to choose a location, together with the art director and the cinematographer. It is a land of extraordinary beauty... The hills, the rivers, vast fields of black earth, the best soil in the world. And the haunting thought: why do people lead such a miserable life on this wonderful land? I think that, until we solve that riddle of our history, we will never understand why we are what we are... I am trying to find an answer to the question, “Why do we hate one another so much?” And I can see clearly that society does not know what it is doing and is guided by false values.”