Stepan Bogatyrev

I ruined my very first roll of film: I was developing it by hand and used the wrong process. But I was hooked — that's where it all began.

I got into documentary on a bet. With weak school grades, I bet a friend I'd win a free place in the film and photography department — and got in without any preparation. That's how I ended up, by chance, in the workshop of documentary director Alexander Kiselev, to whom I owe a great deal.

From 2011 I worked as a cinematographer at the St. Petersburg Documentary Film Studio. There I saw how months of editing turn the chaos of a shoot into a whole film, and I learned to work with what's there. The films we shot won awards at international festivals.

Then for almost ten years I worked with businesses: sales, advertising, websites, CRM, video and YouTube for companies. I learned that a beautiful image isn't the end of the story: a video has to find its audience. Now I think about that audience before I even start filming.

I'm from St. Petersburg. I've lived abroad since 2022, and in 2024 France granted me a Passeport Talent for my work in documentary film. I settled in Chartres — a quiet town an hour from Paris — and here I film craftspeople, companies and people with a story to tell.

I'm interested in people, their work and how they deal with hardship. I love natural light, deep contrast and moments that can't be repeated. A shot doesn't have to be perfect — it has to work.