2020

The year started off quite cheerfully. We settled down in a cozy Moscow apartment not far from the center, raced around the world (we had just returned from Cuba), worked like the damned, and even began to think about a mortgage.

It had been a disgusting winter — damp, nasty, typical Moscow winter. Somewhere in China another attack had begun, but who cared? There is enough news about strange viruses every year. However, it soon became clear that this was not just media noise. In Europe, of course, they found a simple and elegant solution - they began to hate the Chinese. My wife's business, connected with supplies to China, was slowly but surely going down.

People, driven by ancient instincts, were buying buckwheat and toilet paper, apparently hoping to defend themselves with them in case of a zombie assault. We also stocked up on provisions, because even the most reasonable people start to doubt when there is panic around. And, of course, the finale of this epic: Moscow goes into quarantine. A month and a half in voluntary and compulsory confinement. Unfortunately, we did not manage to go mad — there was not enough time.

Those who tried to walk risked falling into the hands of the police, who were cheerfully catching the offenders. And from the window, it looked almost like a dystopian story. The wife, inspired by Chinese propaganda, became paranoid, so that even walking became an illegal operation. Her business finally collapsed, while I, surprisingly, was stable. Anyway, we waited for the end of “self-isolation” and moved to Tver.

Moscow, which I had disliked before, finally ceased to appeal to me after the house arrest. But summer Tver, with its Volga River, seemed like a paradise on earth. While my wife continued to worry about the world order, I was swimming, meeting friends, and enjoying life.

Everything went on as usual until China closed down completely in the fall. In December, my wife miraculously managed to get home, and I stayed in Tver for the winter, and then I was hit with a depression that even the most hardened psychotherapist would not have been able to cope with. The epic with attempts to get to China began, but that's another story. Now, re-reading all this, it's hard not to chuckle, but in 2020, it felt like the world was really falling apart. Those were naive times, which I captured on film.