The idea for I Love You So Much, Mommy was conceived four years ago, when one of the sports television channels broadcast an MMA tournament featuring two of Anna Azovskaya’s sons, Grigoriy and Egor. Anna, as usual, announced her son’s arrival in the ring with a battle dance complete with daggers, and proceeded to cheer him on, screaming until she wheezed from the other side of the net. We couldn’t stop gazing into her face, watching her, listening. It had to be a film shot through observation, covering a short time span in Anna’s life – preparations for one of her sons’ titles. I wanted to create a clash between two images, the image of a gentle mother–woman–housewife and the image of a coach, tough and uncompromising. I wanted to look at how she manages to maintain a hold on the guys, who were quite famous athletes at the time.

Perhaps the script would have remained a script without my co-author Anna Rudikova. After studying everything I could find online about Azovskaya it was clear that she wouldn’t let anyone in, and we needed a suitable co-author who could win her trust.

Director Anna Rudikova herself is a ‘girl from the south’ and she was very clear about Azovskaya and her approach to raising boys. She liked the idea and agreed to work alongside the director on the project. The wheels were set in motion very quickly and we met Azovskaya. It turns out that she currently has four athletes under her wing, since the eldest son Grigoriy can no longer fight due to illness. Her second son, Egor, has become a champion, and his mother puts her energies into her youngest son, Vitya, as well as bringing her two daughters into the ring.

Nevertheless, the concept of the film remained the same – ‘the mother-as-mom and mother-as-trainer’.

We didn’t seek to maintain a purely observational style – the subjects often addressed the crew and this became part of the film. Anna’s relationship with the crew contributes to her image. This is Anna Azovskaya, this is her life and this is her documentary.