Cinematography Today in Armenia and Azerbaijan
| Without Law on Cinematography Any Talk on the Cinema Will Only Be an Emotional Outpour
– What is the modern Armenian film like today? Are these domestically made films that are on at the cinemas in the country? Are these films on DVDs, soap operas or documentaries? What topics prevail in modern films?
– The contemporary Armenian movie has witnessed a lot of changes in the course of the past 20 years, but it was essential that the state contributions to cinematography have become only partial; censorship has disappeared, although in terms of production film making has found itself and still remains in crisis. But even in the conditions of small-scale film production, the modern Armenian cinematography has made its own history and formed its own image. Over the past 20 years we have witnessed the production of such films as “Documentarian,” “The Return of the Poet,” and “Borderline” by Harutyun Khachatryan, “The Wind of Oblivion,” “Symphony of Silence” by Vigen Chaldranyan, “The Happy Bus” by Albert Mkrtchyan, “The Land of Sacral Rites” and “Mariam” by Edgar Baghdasaryan. Arnold Agababov’s film “Where Were You, Man of God?” tells of the Stalinist regime.
Frunze Dovlatyan’s film “Nostalgia” is noteworthy. This is the story of old Arakel, who, being a simple peasant tried to cross the river and see the sunrise in his homeland in Western Armenia. Because of this act, he finds himself in the basement of the KGB. The film raises the issue of borders and having one’s motherland divided into two. I should also mention the film by Harutyun Khachatryan, “The Return to the Promised Land,” which tells how the young couple settled in a village once populated by Azerbaijanis.
The 1990s have also been reflected in documentaries. The current film production sector is much more diverse. In Armenia, television channels mostly broadcast soap operas of their own production: these have a mediocre or even poor quality. It is another important systemic problem, because in countries with developed film production TV companies are the main investors in cinematography. In these conditions, problems arise for those filmmakers, whose primary purpose is not to ensure large scale profit or filling in the air time. If the soap operas or TV movies that are easily transferred onto the screen, can gather an audience, because TV promotes them, author’s films remain ignored. Meanwhile, we have very well produced films that address social, political, interpersonal relations, whose life is short because of the lack of proper attention.
Neither TV broadcasters nor the cinemas are interested in them. The development of the national cinematography should arouse the concern of at least the Public television station, as long as there is no clear law, stipulating that every broadcaster must take some part in the development of national cinematography.
– What is the main problem of modern domestic cinematography? Are there any signs of solutions to these problems?
– The major problem of film making is the lack of a law on film production. Cinematography is a production that requires a legislative framework to regulate the legal and economic relations in this area, as well as to specify the infrastructure. Since we do not yet have a law on cinematography, we cannot even dream of having a developed film industry, a joint production of films, or a controlled system. Without the law of cinematography all our talks about film making will be only emotional outbursts. I must say that the bill on film production has been there for a long time, and I hope the relevant authorities will pass it.
Another problem in filmmaking is distribution, the process of selling the movies. Considering the fact that television channels and even public television are absolutely uninterested in the Armenian cinematography and that in Armenia we have only four cinemas – in the cities of Berd, Gyumri and Yerevan, it is unclear how the film should be pay back the money spent on it, or at least reach its audience. I think that in these circumstances the talks about the development of our film industry and its introduction to the international market are irrelevant and are only sporadic examples. We have many problems in the areas of statistics and archiving. It is unknown how many films are shot annually, what their budget is and how much income they provide. We do not even know how many private film companies there are in Armenia, and what they do.
– What domestic films (historical, contemporary, the screen version of classical works) have become popular recently in our country, and how large is the demand for making such films?
– Continuing the discussion of the previous theme, I would like to note that one of the problems of modern cinematography is the polarization of author’s films and box-office hits. There are a number of author’s movies and box-office hits. If the author’s film is meant for a certain number of viewers and is taken to film festivals, we already have soap operas that collect a large number of viewers due to TV promotion. For example, “Wanted a Millionaire”, “Alabalanitsa”, and so on. As a rule, author’s films do not have a long life and do not gather an audience, because television is not interested in them. This polarization leads to a loss of films that are in between an author’s film and a box-office hit. If in the past a mix of an author’s film and a mass popularity film generated good quality and interesting pictures, now we do not have anything of the kind any more. Many complain today, wondering why we cannot watch budget films in the stead of soap operas. This discontent is definitely justified, and I think that the authorities should pay attention to this. Thus, I can say that successful films do not earn popularity and they are gradually losing demand.
– Have Armenian films recently participated in international film festivals? How well-known these films are within Armenia?
– Armenian films are taken to many international film festivals. For example, Harutyun Khachatryan’s movie, “The Border” has won over 20 awards at several prestigious film festivals. Hovhannes Galstyan’s “Entangled Parallels” has been a great success, and it belongs to those rare Armenian films that have been bought by international distribution companies. I can also mention the picture of Michael Vatinyan “Jeanne and the Voices,” which premiered at Busen International Film Festival, and its presentation will be held at the upcoming Yerevan International Film Festival “Golden Apricot” in July. Vigen Chaldranyan’s, Edgar Baghdasaryan’s, Armen Khachatryan’s, Arman Yeritsyan’s, and Maria Sahakyan’s films have also been a success at international film festivals. It turns out that our films are awarded prizes abroad, but they remain unknown to the local viewer. This leads to a decline in our domestic cinematography. I can confidently say that we have young people in cinematography who can well come forth and express themselves (Diana Kardumyan, Michael Vatinyan, Maria Sahakyan, Nika Shek, Arka Manukyan), but they find it very hard to find resources to make movies.
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Cinema Screening Is the Major Problem of Our Film-Production – What is the modern Azerbaijani film like today? Are these domestically made films that are on at the cinemas in the country? Are these films on DVDs, soap operas or documentaries? What topics prevail in modern films?
– The modern Azerbaijani cinematography is currently presented in the form of both feature films, and documentaries, and soap operas, and animation. Feature and documentary films in Azerbaijan have their own history, whereas they began to shoot soap operas quite recently. After the collapse of the USSR Brazilian soap operas became quite popular, and this seems to have been the trigger for the development of this genre of films in Azerbaijan and in the whole of the former Soviet Union space. The immediate stimulus for shooting national soap operas was the decree passed on November 9, 2011, by President Ilham Aliyev. The screening of foreign soap operas has been prohibited in Azerbaijan since May 1, 2012. The decree on the development of domestic cinematography passed by Ilham Aliyev was enforced on this day. Now every channel shoots a few soap operas. One of them is called the Secret, and I am shooting it myself. The film is being shot using the resources of SOY RODUCTİON. It was commissioned by ATV channel. Ratings show that today people mostly watch soap operas and feature films. Now the TVchannels mostly show old and new domestic films, as for cinemas, they prefer to show new films. I think that this is the new policy of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, which I think is right. As for documentary films, it has its own audience, just as it was in the Soviet times. Documentaries are, as usual, shown on TV, which is common practice for any country, I believe. We cannot unequivocally identify any topic that prevails in modern films. We have both history and modern times.
– What is the main problem of modern domestic cinematography? Are there any signs of solutions to these problems?
– Early in 1990s the situation in the Azerbaijani cinematography was terrible. Certainly, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the war in Karabakh and other factors did have a certain effect. Nothing was shot for quite a time. There were some attempts made, but nothing further than that. In 1998 I shot a short feature film, and even received an invitation from different countries. It was difficult to go to the film festivals because of the money. We gathered the money to travel to the film festival in France due to contributions from literally all over the world. The situation has greatly changed now. Films are shot, especially by young directors. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism sends out their films to different international film festivals and covers all expenses. This is highly inspiring, of course.
The main problem that our cinematography and I believe, not only ours, is the distribution of films. I think that this is the greatest problem. No matter what is shot, whether this is a feature film or a soap opera, people wonder when it will be on TV. The famous Dutch cinematographer Peter Greenway has named the date of the death of the cinema: that was “September 31, 1983, when the remote control of TV came forth.” This has turned the cinema into a different art – “interactive and multimedia,” Greenway explained. However, in the recent years new film-production centers have started to operate even in the regions. People have started to go to the cinema, which, in fact, is a good sign.
– What domestic films (historical, contemporary, the screen version of classical works) have become popular recently in our country, and how large is the demand for making such films?
– I am not a cinema historian and I am not a film critic. I think that there are films which remain popular regardless of anything. For example, Vaghif Mustafayev’s short film “All for the Better” (this film presents the absurdity of the war), received several awards at one of the most prestigious film festivals in Oberhausen (Germany), the historical drama, made by Ramiz Fataliyev “The Destiny of the Ruler,” the film made by Ramiz Hasanoghli “Javid’s life,” the film made by Oleg Sarafaliyev “Good Bye, Southern Town.”
– Have Azerbaijani films recently participated in international film festivals? How well-known these films are within Azerbaijan?
– In the recent years many Azerbaijani films (feature and documentary) have taken part in many international film festivals. Mainly, these are the works of young cinematographers. For example, the film made by the Azerbaijani director Ilhar Safat “The Police Station,” shot at the film production studio Narimanfilm jointly with the studios GeorgiaFilm, with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in Azerbaijan. The film was nominated from Azerbaijan for the 83rd annual Oscar award in the category of the Best Foreign Language Movie, and the actor of the leading role in the film, a student at the Baku choreographic vocational school Timur Odushev became a laureate of the 32nd Annual Young Artist Awards. I will tell the story briefly. The famous photographer Gharib has an accident and appears in a police station where due to his mistrust towards his fiancée, discovers that he has a phobia which he has acquired in his childhood. He has had the phobia of women for years. In order to come out alive from this police station, he must leave his fears there. The film “Buta” is the full-length debut of the film-maker Ilhar Najaf. This is a poetic parable. The characters in the movie do not have concrete names, and the boy has been given the symbolic name of Buta. He gets energy from the kite that was presented to him by his grandfather who is a shepherd. The Buta is one of the main elements of the Azerbaijani carpet which is presented in the form of a drop. It symbolizes harmony, fire and love. The film was shot on the commission of the Ministry of Culture and tourism and is a joint production of the film studio AzerbaijanFilm and Buta Film Production Company. The film has won the nomination of the Best Children’s Movie within the framework of 5th Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Previously, the film had participated in various international film festivals in Turkey, Russia, Uzbekistan and Estonia. The film, entitled “The 40th Door” by Elchin Musaoghlu, has won the golden prize in the 42nd International Houston Film Festival, in the nomination of the Best Foreign Language film. Its story is as follows. The fourteen-year-old Rustam lives with his mother in the village and soon he finds out that his father was killed by the Russian mafia. After his father’s death Rustam tries to support his mother and himself, not resorting to theft and robbery. He leaves for Baku, trying to find a job.
I would like specifically mention the works of Fariz Ahmedov, a young film director. He is currently studying at All-Russian State University of Cinematography (Russia). His films (“One Step,” “Inheritance” and so on) have already taken part in many prestigious international film festivals. “One Step” is the story of a young man, named Yusif, who has lost his sight in the Karabakh war. Yusif’s wife, Nisa, is only busy with trying to find money to have his husband operated on, and she does not care for anything related to Yusif. Yusif is sick and tired of such a life and decides to commit a suicide. A young woman, an angel, appears at the right moment and does not let Yusif die. She calls herself Blindness and unlike Nisa is attentive to him, and proves that life must not cease to be attractive even to a blind person. Yusif comes back to life and Nisa suddenly finds money for the surgery. Yusif does not want to be operated on any more. He does not want to lose his Blindness… But probably, Blindness is the feminine part of Nisa’s nature, which she has lost and which will come back to her after her husband’s enlightening.
“Inheritance” is a film about a 9th form schoolboy, Ali, who has been working in the Salty Lake since his childhood. If before he was only watching his father doing the work, now he is doing almost all the work himself. It is true that his father helps him, just as his grandfather Ali used to once help his father. Ali is one of the many people living in the village of Masazir, who do not give a thought to who they are, what they will be when they grow up, how they will earn their living. The reason for this is the Salty Lake, an “Inheritance,” passed from one generation to the other for years already. Someone inherits a house, a firm, or perhaps a car from his/her forefathers, and some inherit a whole lake…In October 2010 the film “Inheritance” received a diploma at the 30th International Film festival of All-Russian State University of Cinematography, For Devotion to Cinematographic Values, a diploma of the National educational channel Enlightening for its production. A monetary grant was provided for shooting another film. In December of the same year the film won a second prize and a monetary prize at the international film festival of Zubroffka in Poland. In March 2011 the film Inheritance received a prize as the Best Documentary at the XVIII Open festival for student works and debuts of Saint Ann in Moscow, and in April of the same year it received a prize as the Best Anthropological Film at the VII International Documentary film Festival in Yekaterinburg.
In December of 2011 the film won the special prize of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights at the Moscow International Film Festival Stalker. The film “Inheritance” was shown in Germany, Russia, Poland, Romania, Ukraine, Latvia, Bulgaria, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other countries.
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