"HE LEFT LIGHT-HEARTED"

Prof Kamil Nacafzada, a people's artist of Azerbaijan and holder of two state awards, was one of the first professional art directors of Azerbaijani cinema. He studied at one of the world's best universities of cinematic arts - VGIK in Moscow, and was one of those who established Azerbaijani cinema as the production designer for more than 40 feature films. At the same time, he did a lot of easel painting and graphic arts and was the production designer for theatre shows. His numerous personal exhibitions in his home country and abroad earned him the fame of an artist in love with his land. It is for this reason that he is famous not only in his home country but across the world. His works are kept in museums and private collections in the USA, Japan, Turkey, Russia, Germany, France, Vietnam, the UK, etc. He died two years ago - on 29 December 2011. He devoted many years of his life to teaching. He was a wonderful teacher. His students who are successful in various visual arts are confirmation of this. An R+ correspondent converses with Samil Nacafzada, Kamil Nacafzada's son, about the kind of a father Kamil was, what he valued in people, and principles that guided him in his life.

- What kind of a person was Kamil Nacafzada?

- Everyone who knew my father respected him. He took friendship very seriously and valued true friends. He did not have many true friends. My father was not used to showing his feelings in public. He did not express his emotions much but his close ones and friends felt the big love and care that he generously shared. My father never talked baby talk to his grandchildren either. He talked to them as grown-ups, as his equals. He loved them. He kept abreast of their developments and helped them when they needed it. He had eight grandchildren, and also three great-grandchildren. I remember - when my elder daughter Aysel decided to apply to the arts department of the University of Arts, my father started giving her lessons. He was very warm towards his students, he helped them, he bought them paints. They loved him very much, too, and respected him. It was very touching when after he died his students whom he had led till the defence of their theses organized an exhibition titled "Trace", which was dedicated to his memory... There was a very tender relationship between my father and my mother Megin. They understood each other absolutely. He loved her very much. I think that he loved her more than he loved anyone else. But, you know, I have caught myself mythologizing a bit... Along with his being a reserved and serious person, he could be very witty and lively and could enjoy life. The main thing is that he knew how to love...

- Was there anything that he did now allow you to do when you were a kid?

- No. Only once, when I had already been admitted to VGIK and was leaving for Moscow, father talked to me in a very serious manner about harm caused by alcohol and smoking. However, his concerns were unfounded: I always exercised self-control and did not abuse my liberty. After all, I knew very well why I was going to Moscow - I was going there for a profession. Father quite relied on my common sense but he nevertheless did not fail to strongly warn me against things that he himself had experienced. Unlike my father, my mother was gentle and pliant. This is how they complemented each other. I was actually very lucky to have parents like that.

- Did they not even have you stand in the corner for your pranks?

- I cannot remember anything like that happen. Between me, my sister Aynur and my younger brother Elnur there was a difference of, respectively, four and nine years. When my sister grew up we had more frequent quarrels. Despite the age she was, she was quite obstinate, and she liked teasing me. If we had a scuffle near our father, we immediately calmed down once he shouted at us. But I can't remember our parents beat us.

- What did the father and the son talk about when they got together at one table?

- About life and arts. Actually, father did not talk much... He was a man of principle about everything. At the film set, he could thoroughly recreate in minute detail the environment and atmosphere of a film. Once, when my father worked as a production designer for a film, he did not allow a young and negligent director to access the film set until an experienced director, who performed as artistic director, arrived. He had an extremely high sense of justice and could clash with the direction team if those failed to treat his colleagues in a fair manner. After my father died people talked about how he had helped and supported them in a difficult unfair situation. He could not stand toadies and when he met with overt fawning he could use quite a stern language. He lived in full harmony with his beliefs. In this sense my father was an absolutely happy person. He never acted against his conscience and only said what he believed to be true. He could stand up for his principles even when he was young. When I entered VGIK, my teachers - who were my father's former friends and former fellow students - talked about how my father had "made" everyone. Back then already, he was a cool guy who kept everyone and everything under his control. Those were hard times - post-war years... And he was like that up until he died.

 - In what circumstances did you parents meet? They told you this story, didn't they?

- My mother, brother and grandmother lived in then Pervomayskaya Street. My grandfather - mom's father - died early. Father lived nearby, in a neighbouring area, in Nizhnyaya Nagornaya Street. My mother was a student at the biology department at a university, and once, when she was on her way back home from classes, father saw her in the street. He liked her very much. Mother was eight years his junior. She was very beautiful. Father spent a long time courting her. And some time later, he popped the question and they married. After mom graduated from the university, with splendid grades, I was born. She could have achieved a lot in her career, but she decided to devote her life to her family. She "worked" all her life as a mother and then as a grandmother.

- Your sister lives in the USA. Your father must have often visited them...

- True, my mother and father often visited my sister. Mother spent a long time there, helping my sister with her children: nobody could help her and support her like mom could in that alien country where she had no relatives.

The first time my father visited the USA was in 1978, a long time before my sister moved to the States. There he continued to work. He painted pictures. He had everything he needed to work. But [every time he visited the USA] he started missing Baku very quickly and came back. He was very much attached to Azerbaijan and Baku. My father is, actually, if I'm not mistaken, the first Azerbaijani artist who had a personal exhibition held in the USA. That was in 1994. He had a total of three personal exhibitions held there when he was alive and one in 2012, after he died, in one of Washington's largest galleries, near the US Congress.

- You followed in your father's footsteps. Did his connections and acquaintances help you in your life?

- Certainly, it is completely because of him that I came into arts. I grew up in an environment where it was hard to choose a different path. From the times when I was a very little kid my father took me to film sets where he worked as a production designer - I still remember the film studios of those years. I very much liked the process of film shooting. Besides, I often visited his studio and started to paint pictures at a very early age. I was five, as far as I can remember... At least, I have preserved my drawings that I painted when I was that age. As for my gravitation towards cinema and the art of direction, it had to do directly with the fact that when I was 11 I had my own eight-millimetre movie camera which my father gave me. So, I made my first steps in cinema when I was only 12, shooting my first films.

When I finished eighth grade, I announced that I was going to study at the Azim Azimzada artistic school. My teachers were horrified because I was one of the best students and was set to receive a gold medal. My father had mixed feelings: he did not object actively but warned me that I chose a very difficult path and that with the kind of "head" I had I could make it into any university. And he gave me time to think. But my choice was definitive. Then followed years of studies at VGIK which I graduated from with distinction. He always taught me to be independent, like a man should be. So, I identified my own priorities and bore responsibility for my actions. After I graduated from the university, I came back home and worked as a production designer for five films and took part in arts exhibitions. But my gravitation towards for the art of direction gained the upper hand - in 1989, I started to direct film.

Father thought that I was a good artist and should devote myself to visual arts. So, in the beginning he did not take my directorial opuses seriously. However, some time later, when people started inviting me to various international festivals and I was a certain success in this field, my father understood that things were much more serious than he had thought. And it was only after my father saw my movie opera "Leyli va Macnun" [Leyli and Majnun], which was filmed in 1996, that he acknowledged me as a professional film director. And he was even proud of the film "Qala" [Fortress]. His acknowledgment was a very valuable thing because from the point of view of quality of arts he was never indulgent towards himself or his close ones or anyone at all.

- Please tell me about the last days of Kamil Nacafzada's life. What did he recall? What did he talk about?

- It is actually an interesting thing that my father's elder brothers also were good artists from their childhood. But he was the only one to become a professional artist. And a great role in this was played by his elder brother Yunus, who actually raised his four junior brothers and two sisters after the early death of my grandfather, who was their father. So, it was it uncle Yunus who insisted that my father should first study at an arts school and then go to Moscow to apply to an arts university. He gave my father financial support all the six years. In my documentary titled "Man from canvas", which is dedicated to my father, he says: everyone should try and live their life in a way that would prevent not only themselves but also their children and descendants from blushing for some improper actions. I can say with full confidence that he managed to do it. Up until today people tell me wonderful words about him that are full of respect and sometimes admiration.

Love was the main theme in his paintings. He loved the beauty of his native land - in landscapes, the beauty of people - in portraits, the beauty of objects - in still lifes, and the beauty of a woman's body - in nudes. He was a wonderful colourist, and his paints give viewers a positive energy and love for life. He could combine full commitment to work with a tender attitude to his family. In that film, he said that family is a small state and not everybody manages to establish, develop and preserve that state. As a person utterly devoted to his arts, he spent a long time away at film sets. Nonetheless, he created the most comfortable conditions for his family. How did he manage to do that? He loved very much his wife, his children and his vocation - to be an artist.

My mother's sudden death shook him. My mother died of a stroke in the USA six years ago. Father suddenly grew several years older. He was very upset about her departure, but he continued to work in his studio. I keep his canvas which he did not have time to complete when he was taken to hospital. I think that he died with the feeling that he had done all he had planned to do. He did not hold on to life. He was at ease about me, my sister and my brother. He was at ease about his grandchildren. He made a contribution to Azerbaijani arts, which was appreciated while he was alive. He completed his mission on earth and left light-hearted...