Movie and TV actress Olga Budina, 27, is one of very few young and bright actresses who have made both quick and successful careers. Fate was benevolent to her: Back when she was a student at the Shchyukin Theater School, she got a role in "Romanovy. Ventsenosnaya semya" (Romanovs. The Crown-Wearing Family), directed by Gleb Panfilov. Then she featured in Alexei Uchitel’s "Dnevnik ego zheny" (His Wife’s Diary), which was prized with a Russian Nika movie award. Both movies were nominated for an Oscar. Her recent roles include Marina Goloshchyokina in the TV series "Granitsa. Tayozhny roman" (State Border. Taiga Romance), which won her a State Prize, and Aglaya in the TV series based on Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s "Idiot." With her remarkable list of achievements, the Moscow International Film Festival (MIFF) asked her to be on the jury, which makes her the youngest juror in the history of MIFF, and the only actress among this year’s jury lineup.
A LifeStyle correspondent met Budina in the Japanese restaurant Yakitoria on Petrovka Ul. where she spoke about movies, stardom, the festival and its jury.

Olga, have you attended Moscow International Film Festivals before? As a guest or in the audience?
I’ve been out of town every time the festival has taken place. This is the first time that I’ve agreed to join its jury, casting all my other business and filming aside. It’s like a first date: It’s the first Moscow film festival in my life and my first appearance in a film festival’s jury (laughs). When they told me that I was included in the jury I got very nervous. Such a lineup! The names need no introduction: Ken Russell, Agnieska Holland, Mika Kaurismaki, Moritz Bleibtreu. And I, Olga Budina, will be among them. Oh, Lord! What am I supposed to do there? Maybe I should buy a briefcase to look more respectable. I needed to relax and start thinking about how I would rearrange my schedules. Now I have to worry about how to present myself.
You mean you’ve approached your mission thoroughly?
I would not say thoroughly. I’ve decided to present myself the way I am – slightly carefree. I decided not to eliminate the element of game, which has always been present in my life. I’ve chosen the style of Marlene Dietrich, the style that I’m madly in love with, but I must say this decision got me into a hell of a bustle. I rummaged through the Emmanuel Ungaro boutique to find a dark-blue jacket patterned with white polka-dots, and I think those in the French fashion house would appreciate that I replaced the trivial black buttons with shells. The jacket grooves really well with my black-and-white-polka-dotted, bead and red-thread adorned Christian Lacroix shoes. Also, I’ve got a silk dress in the fusion style patterned with stripes, flowers and drawings from Russian designer Yelena Nartova. And, of course, I’ll be wearing my Carrera y Carrera earrings and necklace. I can’t wait to show all this off!

Olga, do you consider yourself to be a star?
What star? There are no stars in Russia! (laughs). Which star?! You are running late and they ask to take your photo. You start making excuses that you have no time, but they start getting outraged: "What? We are casting you! And what are you up to?"

Are you poised to be a strict judge?
Earlier this year I presented "Radosti i pechali malenkogo lorda" (Joys and Sorrows of a Little Lord) at the Kinotavr Festival in Sochi. I first saw that film in May, at the "Moskovskaya Premyera" (Moscow Premiere) festival. It was rather boring to me: There was nothing to criticize, but something was lacking. Of course, I wouldn’t appraise it as a "C" movie, rather as an "A-." But when I saw it again at Kinotavr I got the impression that it deserved an "A" with three pluses! What played a particular role in my re-evaluation of the film was the energy charge of the audience, their friendliness and their willingness to notice only the good. It was particularly surprising because there was only one month between my first and second times watching the film. Therefore, I would choose those movies which are interesting and which you would like to see again and again, be it a thriller, a melodrama or a fairytale. But I’m particularly positive toward melodramas.
So, the victory will be for a melodrama? What are your other favorite genres?
Apart from melodramas, I like historical dramas. We have grown tired of all the violence in movies. At premieres and even at film festivals, I’m often approached by people asking me why I don’t like fairytales and films for the soul. To that I reply: "See Radosti i pechali malenkogo lorda, please." Everyone on the cast put his or her soul into it, which is why it turned into a beautiful story for people of all ages.

The festival’s competition program includes three Russian movies, including Alexei Uchitel’s "Progulka" (The Stroll). Incidentally, it was precisely from Uchitel’s film "Dnevnik ego zheny" (His Wife’s Diary) that your triumphant career began. Will you have a soft spot for Uchitel’s film when making your judgment?
Of course, I will. I’m sure that foreign members of the jury will support his or her home country. And I will support mine. I don’t really like the pop band Tatu, but I wished them victory at Eurovision in Riga. Not because they are Tatu, but because they were representing Russia.

Where will we see you in the near future? What are your plans?
After the festival, in the beginning of July, I will go to France to take part in their Fort Ballard game show. After that, I will busy myself with my production center for support and development of young people’s creativity, "Futurum Perfectum." My goal is to put together a team of people who are interested in the younger generation’s creativity in all its manifestations. Let them make brooms or flower pots, but these will be handmade things. In the fall, there will be a repeat showing of the "Idiot" on television, and scheduled to come out in October or November is a 12-episode miniseries, "Bajazhet," based on Valentin Pikul’s novel about the 19th-century Russian-Turkish War. Coming out at approximately the same time is a 24-episode miniseries based on Vasily Aksyonov’s novel "Moskovskaya saga" (Moscow Saga).