Ilya
Popenov was only 16 when he received his first liter
ary
prize, the 2002 Debut award for courage in literature.
Stricken since birth with cerebral palsy, he is unable
to use his hands or walk, and can only write by typing
with his nose. But in his novel, titled "Wonders and
Secrets" (Chudesa i Tainy), his characters, unbound by
sickness, journey freely through fantastical lands.
Last Tuesday,
Popenov's life and art were brought to the public eye
again with the premiere of a documentary by filmmaker
Olesya Fokina. Also titled "Wonders and Secrets," the
documentary paints a heartbreaking picture of the
wheelchair-bound teenager and his tired mother,
surviving on 1,500 rubles ($52) per month in
Yekaterinburg.
Throughout the film,
Fokina emphasizes Popenov's habit of overcoming the
daily difficulties of existence with magical flights
of the imagination. In one scene, a white boat sails
through dark waters as the narrator reads excerpts
from Popenov's work. But when the camera rolls back,
the uncharted waters are revealed to be nothing more
than a dirty puddle with a tiny paper boat barely
afloat.
It was Popenov's way
of seeing goodness and beauty in everything that
attracted the attention of critics from the very
start. Formed by the International Fund Pokoleniye in
2000 to recognize Russian-language writers under the
age of 25 for their long and short prose, poetry,
plays and another "floating" category that changes
every year, the Debut jury selected his novel from a
field of 35,000 entries for a long list of 70 works.
According to prize coordinator Olga Slavnikova, the
choice had nothing to do with Popenov's illness.
"When we read
'Wonders and Secrets,' we did not know that Popenov
was disabled," Slavnikova said. "We chose to recognize
his work purely for its richness of imagination."
Indeed, Popenov is
the youngest author in the Debut prize's history to be
included on the long list. While his novel did not
make it to the shortlist, the judges decided to honor
it in the "courage in literature" category after they
found out about Popenov's condition. Created in 2001,
that category recognizes authors who write not because
of, but despite their life circumstances. The first
writer to receive the honor was Arkady Babchenko,
whose semi-autobiographical war prose drew on his
experiences in Chechnya.
"Wonders and Secrets" is the fourth documentary in a
series by Fokina titled "A Man for All Time." The
earlier films highlight celebrated personalities such
as writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn and academic
Alexander Konovalov. After meeting Popenov, though,
Fokina found a new focus for her documentary work.
"When poet Vitaly
Pukhanov [one of the Debut prize's literary experts]
introduced me to the main character, I found out that
the beautiful people to whom I devote my films can be
found in all sorts of circles, not only the most
famous ones," she said at the premiere.
"What unites all of
the series' characters is that they are voices of good
in a world where wars and other evils are much more
visible," Fokina went on. "With my documentary about
Popenov, I try to make the voice of good more
audible."
Fokina's documentary
is expected to air on television and at the Kinotavr
film festival next month.
