BBC Four: Where did this idea come from; to meet people who were born on the same day as you? Viktor Kossakovsky: My original idea was very funny. When you are 25 in Russia you have to change your passport photo. Normally I do my own photos but for some reason I didn't and went to a studio. The next day when I went to collect them I saw lots of photos of people the same age. I wondered if anyone else whose photos were in the studio were born on the same day as me. Theoretically it was possible. So I thought it would be funny to meet all these people.
BBC Four: The end result can hardly be called a comedy... VK: I didn't decide who was going to be in the film. Someone else decided who was going to be born. It wasn't my idea to make a film about poor lives in Russia, this just happened. Maybe on Tuesday or Saturday there were funnier people born. But unfortunately on Wednesday 19 July 1961 that wasn't the case. People said it was a very sad film about very bad lives. People asked why I didn't find great artists and poets. But no one was a murderer; no one was really bad or really aggressive. What was depressing for me was finding people who were 35 and didn't like life. I wanted to find people who were full of energy in the middle of their lives, full of future.
BBC Four: What were the initial reactions of the people you met who shared your birthday? VK: People didn't believe that somebody was interested in their ordinary lives. Everybody said it was just a joke. But after a few weeks they called me back because no one had ever really asked them, "How are you?" We say it every day, but no one really ever answers the question, "How are you?" and thinks about it.
BBC Four: Was it hard to track all the people down? VK: Now, with the internet it would be very easy but then it was more difficult. I started to think about it when I was 25 and I made the film when I was 36 so it took 11 years. Four years of that I took to find people. My working title was I Am 30 Years Old but I obviously had to change that.
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