Sasha (2011)

Six years ago, I was working at Mosfilm when my assistant Nastya asked me to answer a call on the city phone. It was the parents of a girl who desperately needed a bone marrow transplant. I reached out to Chulpan Khamatova, and her Foundation arranged for Alina to be transported to Moscow and admitted to a hospital. My wife Sveta then organized an auction, and we raised money to donate to Chulpan's Foundation. Alina later had the transplant and, before going into surgery, said she wanted to be an actress if she recovered. She is now healthy. Before the New Year, I filmed her with a digital camera for a short film called "Sasha," which was used in another charity auction organized by Sveta.