Medvedi Kamčatki. Načalo Žizni

Most of the world’s brown bears are concentrated in this protected natural area. On the shores of Lake Kuril, where the huge red salmon population lays its eggs, bears gather in their thousands. We saw 40 of them altogether while we were shooting the film. We would generally reach the lake towards five o’clock on the morning. As one of the reserve’s chief collaborators, the director of photography Dmitrij Špilenok, knows exactly how to behave near the bears. You have to be very clear that you are in their territory, where there is no place for human beings, save, that is, for those who work there and the small groups of tourists who have been carefully educated to respect the place. The bears often looked into the lens and noted our presence. Within a radius of 200 meters, they are perfectly aware of what is happening. More than once we found ourselves at a close distance without causing them any particular concern.

Aware of how severe controls are, poachers have now disappeared from the area, so the bears grow up without fear of human beings. In a sort of reversal of roles, they even began to take an interest in our film crew. Weighed down by 40 kilos of equipment, sometimes our camera operators struggled to keep up with their “actors.” They were afraid of losing them but they always managed to find them again. On occasion, the GoProcamera would slip into their paws or into the water. Playing with the strange object, the cubs ended up filming themselves! When we retrieved the camera, we were amazed by this extraordinary footage: we didn’t include it in the film but we kept it among the outtakes. Bears resemble us in that they have different characters and a wide range of emotions and moods. We observed some that were more reflexive, others that were more impulsive, and we saw how they gathered in groups according to age. The purpose of the adventure was very simple for us: we wanted to show how delicate and fragile and, at the same time, strong, nature is, and that our duty is to respect and protect it.