Film about national composer premiered in Baku

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

The Azerbaijani TV and Radio Broadcasting Company (AzTV) has shot a film about a great national composer, Azernews reports.

The film "Uzeyir Hajibayli: Touches to one portrait" is a part of a documentary series "Almost My Memory" by Sabah Creative Studio.

The film sheds light on events that have not been revealed for many years and discloses the main reasons why the composer did not create anything for 18 years. The creative team considers this work to be the beginning of a full-length feature film, to be prepared for the composer's 140th anniversary.

The author of the project "Almost My Memory" is People's Artist and filmmaker Ramiz Hasanoglu.

The director of the film is Adil Azay, scriptwriter - Afag Vasifgizi. Adalat Abdulsamadov plays the main role in the film.

The film was premiered at the State Film Fund and received acclaim from public and cultural figures.

Uzeyir Hajibayli laid the foundation of a national musical style. He was the first composer of an opera in the Islamic world.

The opera Leyli and Majnun (1908) is based on traditional folk music and dance, musical genres that relied on oral traditions.

Furthermore, the composer wrote his second opera Sheyx Sanan, Rustam and Sohrab, Asli and Karam, Shah Abbas, Khurshudbanu, and Harun and Leyli, entirely based on the national folk music elements, primarily mugham.

He also composed three comedies including, Husband and Wife (1910), If not this one, that one (1911), and Arshin Mal Alan (1913).

Arshin Mal Alan or The Cloth Peddler was the latest and one of the most popular operettas of the eminent composer.

The operetta has been successfully performed in a plethora of languages in over 60 countries of the world, including in the U.S., Austria, France, China, Greece, India, Russia, and Turkiye.