Anya Chirkova is a Russian born and raised film director. In her work, she’s always looking to tell painful and yet cathartic stories that feel strikingly personal. She is a co-founder of a Toronto based production company Funny Bone Pictures and a Humber College alumna. Anya’s goal is to develop her first feature narrative work.
Director Statement
Flower Boy isn’t an autobiographical depiction of my life; it’s about the painful experiences I observed while growing up. It’s about the friends we don’t speak with anymore, but still, obsess over. It’s about the final agonizing days of summer and the few adults who would take the time to listen. Flower Boy ultimately deals with the internal conflict of what it’s like to grow up and potentially not achieve your dreams.
What compelled me to tell this story was when I turned 25, I entered an age of disillusionment. I realized that my idealistic and invincible youth was replaced with the feeling of not being able to change the world and how this crushed my spirit. It was something I didn’t want my characters to be aware of. This disillusion served as the antagonistic force in the story.
I wanted the drama in the film to reflect how I felt – it wasn’t a high stake heist or a melodramatic divorce, but instead, a meandering character piece exploring sexual openness, artistry and the desire to connect. I never had a singular moment in my life that defined my existence, but rather little vignettes that have developed into a rapport. When I moved to Canada I felt incredibly alone. It was so painful that I wanted to scream for days on end, but I met new people, made new friends and it didn’t seem as awful.
Los Angeles feedback film festival 