Rustam Ibrahimbeyov Director: Rustam Ibrahimbeyov has been one of the driving forces in cinematiqraphly in Azerbaijan since the late 1960s. A renowned screewriter, he currently heads the Filmmakers' Union of Azerbaijan as well as the Confederation of Filmmakers' Union (CFU), which represents filmmakers from all of the former associations republics. Mr. Ibrahimbeyov has written scripts for more than 30 films, most of which have been produced and many of which are widely acclaimed."In a Southern City"(directed by E.Guliyev,1969) was the first film to raise serious moral issues about yhe Soviet system."White Sun of the Desert" (directed by V.Motyl,1969) is a legendary, and Russian cosmonauts consider it a good omen to watch before they prepare for a launch. He has received numerous awards from the Soviet Union, and now since the the collapse of the Soviet Union(1991), he's been recognized at international film festivals as well.All Union Prizes were given for "White Sun of the Desert", "Interrogation" (directed by R.Ojagov,1979), "Douible Life"(also with R.Ojagov,1987) and "Then I Said:No!" In 1990 the Istanbul Film Festival awarded "Guard Me, My Talisman"(directed R.Balayan) with the Golden Peacouck Award. The folloowing year "Urga, Territory of Love" (directed by Nikita Mikhalkov) and known in the U.S. as "Close to Eden" won the Golden Lion Award Venice Film Festival as well as the Felix Award in Berlin as Best European Film. "Close to Eden" was also nominated for an Oscar in 1992 as Best Foreign Film. Mr.Ibrahimbeyov was involved with N.Mikhalkov in all stages of the development of "Burnt by the Sun" which had the distinguished honor of winning both the Grand Prix at the Cannes Festival(1994) and Best Foreign Film at Hollywood's Academy Awards (1975). That, in itself, is a rare feat since popular tastes usually differ immensely between North America and Europe. R.Ibrahimbeyov was modest about his creative success, managed to keep this modesty after becoming a world famous Master (that unfortunately happens not often!), he says: - I am quite level-hearded about myself, my gift as an artist.I believe that every man who takes a pen and a new sheet of paper should be able to justify this insolense. Because so many great woks have been written now, during his time. I'm suppotred by the thought that my life experience, envionment where I grew up, people I mixed up with and still do, all this experience is unique. Thousands of people on Earth, have much more talent than I do but don't know things that I know, that I've seen and have gone through, so thre's no one to write about it. Only I can add the special touch, into the picture of the world, the touch known only to me and nobody else. That's my personal metronome... It's hard to argue with it! Unigque exploration of the deep layers of national way of life, thorough knowledge of the subject in its smallest detail, original view on this - this initiated creative work of R.Ibrahimbeyov. It's remarkable that quite often (up to this day!) he likes to choose first post - war years as the background for his stories. Apparently here was some sort of "Aeosopian language" - Ibrahimbeyov entered Art when Khruschev thaw came to an end, when censorship toughened after the crucial 1968 - then it was easier to speak freely about the past than the present. But besides this latent throught, the historical reality itself - dramatic junstion of war and pease, difficult revival in the ruins coincided with the artist's temperament, he reconstructed it and felt through it with a kind of filial sensitivity. Actually Rustam himself born in 1939, was too small when the war ended... Azerbaijan, Baku, national problems occupited an important place in Ibrahimbeyov's work up until the "The family" of 1998 where he was the screenwriter, the director and producer; along with the novel "Solar Plexus" published in Moscow at the same time. His filmogrphy demonstrates the Master's loyatlity to "Azerbaijanfilm" studio, the studio that made his debut - most of more than 50 (!) films were made in Baku. However his "Baku sagas" - are far from "ethnical","regional literature".That's really a local color, national peculliarities, all Eastem palette, dedication to the environment in them. But the screenplays are dedicated to general human problems. That's right, they have mild humor, sympathetic smile, love to his compatriots but on the other hand there's the strict distinction between good and bad, implacability to betrayal, meanness, national animosity. These convictions of the writer are indisputable even when the conflicts happen between the bunch of kids of that far away August of 1945 as in the film with the symtomatic title "And Then I Said: :No!" to lackeys, to servility to power, ti scoffing at the weak and defenseless. - "I've always existed in the borderline situation. My main concern was how to make the story about people I know from Baku Interesting to the Russians, the Byelorussians, the people from the Baltic..."- Ibrahimbeyov confessec. Let me tell you one amusing story: "Mosfilm" studio suggested that the young graduate of the Screenwriters' courses as "expert on the East" writes a screenplay where the action takes place in Middle Asia during the revolution. Rustam never mentioned that he'd never been to Middle Asia and knew nothing about the Civil war problems in Turkestan.Imagination and inspiration helped the "impostor" to team up with the maitre Ezhov and write the most charming and appealimg story about the Russian Red Army soldier walking across the desert. The original title was "Save the Harem!". Undoubtedly the 'problem of being understood by the audience of different cultures and traditions" (or, according to Dostoyevsky - Pushkin "universal responsiveness" of the Russian literature) directly applies to the work of Rustam Ibtahimbeyov. Their geography expands from "one Southern city" and Middle Asian desert up to the vast steppe, nomands of the Inner Mongolia in "Urga"- in the East, uo to the attic in Paris in his play "Rope for Prague.His "responsiveness" to the Russian soul, the Russian life of the present and the past enabled him to create an informal fantasy connected to Pushkin (it was long before the the total All-Russia 200 anniversary of the poet celebrated in 1999!) for R.Balayan's film "Guard Me, My Talisman".That was a wild mixture of documentary and makebelief, humor and sadness, lyricizm and sarcazm. The same acute feeling of everything Russian pierces the script of the bitter and merciless film also by R.Balayan "The Snitch", unfortunately underestimated.It was a kind of preliminary sketch outlined for the film epic "Barber of Siberia".It so happened that he, a Russian language Azeri by the origin and upbringing, a "Westerner" by disposition, internationalist by beliefs took together with Mikhalkov all accusations of "national patriotizm","phony patriotizm" and "greatpower chauvinism" from the idle critics-analysts-spiteful observers.One of them, a denouncer-wise-cracker, very pleased with himself called his review "Siberian Fake" Any creative wokk with shared authorship has always been a mystery behind seven lock. It's especially hard to define in the creation of a film, to distinguish between whose is what since a film essentially has two equal creators, two authors-verbal and visual (let alone the shooting crew).Shared authorship, shared creation always borderes on conflict - by definition. High traditions of our national cinema since the classics have always enhanced the role of the original idea, text itself, literary screenplay. However the objective ambivalence of a script as "artifact" :it's an independent literary work, but realized only on the screen. Motion pictures made after Rustam Ibrahimbeyov's screenplays: "IN A SOUTHERN CITY"(1969,dir.E.Guliyev) "WHITE SUN OF THE DESERT"(co-writen with V.Ezhov,1969,dir.V.Motyl, numerous All-Russia State Award given by the Prezident) "A POLICE STORY"(1969,dir.B.Durov and S.Pushinyan) "A QUIET DAY IN HTE END OF THE WAR"(1970,dir.N.Mikhalkov) "THEN I SAID: "NO!"(1973,dir.P.Aspenov) "OH, HEART, HEART"(1975,dirE.Guliyev) "SUITE"(1976,dir.R.Ibrahimbeyov) "A BIRTHDAY PARTY"(1977,dir.R.Ojagov) "STRATEGY OF RISK"(1978,dir.A.Proshkin) "A COUNTRY HOUSE FOR ONE FAMILY"(1978,dir.Y.Gusman) "MIXING WITH LOVE"(1979,dir.S.Mikaelyan) "INTERRAOGATION"(1979,dir.R.Ojagov,State Award of the Soviet Union) "STRUCTURE OF THE MOMENT"(1980,dir.R.Ismaylov) "INFRONT OF A CLOSED DOOR"(1981,dir.R.Ojagov) "BUSNIESS TRIP"(1982,dir.R.Ismaylov) "MYSTERY OF THE SHIP CLOCK"(1982,dir.R.Shabanov) "PARK"(1983,dir.R.Ojaqov) "GUARD ME, MY TALISMAN"(1986,dir.R.Balayan, grand awaerd - Istanbul Filmfestival) "THE SLAP THAT VEVER HAPPENED"(1987,dir.I.Shatrov) "FREE DOWNFALL"(1987,dir.M.Tumanishvili) "DOUBLE LIFE"(1987,dir.R.Ojagov) "AN INFORMER"(1987,shared with R.Balayan,dir.R.Balayan) "TEMPLE OF AIR"(1989, dir.R.Ojagov) "URGA, TERRITORY OF LOVE"(shared N.Mikhalkov,1991,dir.N.Mikhalkov, "Golden Lion" award in Venice Film Festival, American Film Academy nomination for best foreign film,1992, the All-Russia State Award 1993) "OH, ISTANBUL"(1994,dir.R.Ojagov) "BURNT BY THE SUN"(1994, shared with N.Mikhalkov, the director. Grand juri award, Cannes Film Festival,1994,The American Academy Award-Oscar for best foreign, 1995, the All-Russia State Award for 1996) "THE MAN WHO TRIED HARD"(1996,R.Ibtahimbeyov) "THE BROKEN BRIDGE"(1996,shared with R.Pooya, dir.R.Pooya) "THE BARBER OF SIBERIA"(1999,shared N.Mikhalkov) "EAST- WEST"(to be released in 1999,shared S.Bodrov,dir.Regis Wargnier) "THE FAMILY"(1998,dir.R.Ibrahimbeyov and R.Hasanoghlu) "HOT LINE"(2001,dir.R.Ibrahimbeyov).