Azerbaijani movies bidding for Oscar

Azerbaijani movie directors Shamil Aliyev and Ramiz Hasanoglu are bidding for the key world film award, the Oscar. Aliyev`s Steppe Man (Cholchu) and Hasanoglu`s "Sunrise Messenger" have been included in the preliminary list in the Best Foreign Film nomination of Academy Awards.

The feature film Steppe Man has an exciting plot. It is about a young steppe man who lives far from the cities, closely communicating with nature. He is taught by his father Ulu all the tricks of the prairie life. Shortly after his father's death, a new chapter begins in his life, and he meets a girl who came from the village. For him the acquaintance with her is a step into a large and therefore unknown life...

Creative work for the movie has been done by script writer Vidadi Hasanov, director of photography Rafig Guliyev, production designers Rafig Nasirov and Ibrahim Khalil Aminov, composer Rauf Aliyev, and producers Mushvig Hatamov and Azer Guliyev.

The film stars Bahruz Vagifoglu, Vidadi Hasanov, Javidan Mammadov, Salome Demuria, Vusal Mehraliyev and others.

Steppe Man was presented at the XXI Open Film Festival of CIS countries, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, Kinoshock 2012 (Anapa, Russia), at the VIII Eurasia International Film Festival (Almaty, Kazakhstan in 2012), was awarded a diploma at the V International Film Festival Didor (Dushanbe, 2012); it was among the bidding entries at the XVI International Festival in Tallinn, Dark Nights (2012), was presented at the 35th Cairo International Film Festival (2012), the 13th Tbilisi International Film Festival (2012), 24th Ankara International Film Festival (2013), and the International Film Forum "Golden Knight 2013" in Khabarovsk, Russia.

The other film, "Subhun safiri" (Sunrise Messenger), directed by Hasanoglu, is devoted to the 200th anniversary of writer and enlightener, founder of drama in the East Mirza Fatali Akhundzade.

The realistic-enlightener view of Akhundzade, who lived in 1812-1878, played a particular role in the development of Azerbaijani literature and created a solid basis for the development of the genres of modern Western literature such as drama, novel, tale, short story, narrative, epic poem, etc. in Azerbaijani literature. His first six dramas, created in 1850-1855, formed a new literary school in the literature of the Middle East.

Akhundzade was not only a writer and a poet, but also a philosopher, a public figure, who saw the purpose of his creative work in supporting the happiness of his people. Akhundzade was also a supporter of alphabet reform. He was the first intellectual mentioning the necessity to substitute the Arabic script with the Latin one and called for a change of the Arabic script.

Source /AzerNews/


The screenwriter of the film is Anar Rzayev. Camera operator is Kanan Mammadov, composer is Javanshir Guliyev, the artist is Rafiz Ismayilov, and executive producer is Adil Gulamov.

The film stars about 90 actors. 11-year-old Tofig Aliyev plays Akhundzade in his childhood, while Nijat Habibov portrays him in his adolescence years, and People's Artist Rasim Balayev - the later years of his life.

The film also casts People`s Artists Fakhraddin Manafov, Ramiz Azizbeyli and Rafig Aliyev, Honored Artist Mammadsafa Gasimov, Malahat Abbasova (the wife of Akhundzade, Tubu Khanim).

The film was shot in three countries -- in Azerbaijan (Baku and Shaki), Georgia (Tbilisi) and Turkey (Istanbul).

Both films were produced by Azerbaijanfilm studio. The Baku premieres of the films was held at the Nizami Cinema Center and greeted with enthusiasm.