“BRINGING ORDER” TO THE CINEMA

Azcinemaonline (www.azcinemaonline.com) is a new website that has been set up for watching Azerbaijani feature, documentary and animated films on line. Its presentation took place a few days ago at the “Nizami” cinema centre. The site was created as part of a state programme for the development of the Azerbaijani cinema for 2008-2018 by the “Narimanfilm” company with the support of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Pasha Bank, the Cinematographers Union, the Producers Guild and the “Nizami” cinema centre.

“This website fulfils a number of very important functions for our cinema and our culture as a whole,” Nariman Mammadov, director of the “Narimanfilm” cinema company, told R+. “”First of all it is a video platform where examples of the country’s feature, documentary films and animated films are gathered together; indeed, it is a kind of internet-cinema.” Mammadov believes that this is vital to publicize the national cinema both in Azerbaijan and abroad. “We believe that the site will be a platform where foreign producers and film companies will be able to see the work of young Azerbaijani directors,” he says. “They will also be able to exchange views on each other’s work and the foreign cinema.” As well as cartoons and films, there will also be links on the site to new works in world cinema. “This is vital if young film-makers are to know about the latest trends,” the director of “Narimanfilm” explains.

Another very important function of the site is a plan to link young talented film-makers with festivals, sales agents and distributors. A regularly updated news column will be opened in the future.

The writer and actor Aleksandr Xakimov also shared his impressions about the website with R+. “I believe that we have a good film industry and it has much to offer but it is simply poorly organized,” he says. “We have pre-war and post-war films, films of the Soviet and post-Soviet period – all this “muddled” cinema has long been in need of collation and sorting out and I am glad that this has happened.” The Azcinemaonline website, Xakimov says, is an attempt to “bring order”. “On the basis of this site we will be able to make a better judgement of the past and present of the Azerbaijani cinema, and that means we can plan its future,” the writer says.

The cinema today

It is gratifying that today almost all local TV channels show not only old Azerbaijani films but new ones, too. However, you won’t find many volunteers wanting to visit the cinema to see a local film premiere. We all know a little bit about the foreign cinema, but we cannot boast that we know about our own cinema. Not to mention the fact that young people virtually never watch Azerbaijani films. Nevertheless, films continue to be made here, both by amateurs and professionals. And they are not only being made but are shown at international festivals.

So what is preventing the development of the Azerbaijani cinema in the broader context?

In Nariman Mammadov’s opinion, a major problem of the national film industry today is its poorly-developed distribution system: “In Baku, and not just Baku, there are still not enough cinemas, or more precisely screens, where local films can be shown. The result is a one-sided show of the latest foreign films.” “The absence of a platform for the country’s cinema cannot fail to affect the situation and that is why our website is creating one. Our aim is to bring the latest Azerbaijani films to the audience,” the producer says.

The “Narimanfilm” director said that five or six feature-length films are produced in Azerbaijan every year. Last year 19 documentary films and many short-feature films were made. “So we can see that a large repertoire of Azerbaijani films have been and continue to be accumulated which, unfortunately, the cinemagoer never sees,” the producer says. “So, “Narimanfilm”, the Cinematographers Union, the Cultural Ministry and the Producers Guild are working on improving the situation.”

It is no secret that funding plays a considerable role in film-making. As the expert pointed out, in most cases today it is the Cultural Ministry that supplies the money to make a film. The amount of funding depends on the cost of the film. Sometimes films are financed by international funds and producers’ centres. “Funding is a constant problem for directors and producers and there is never enough. It is very difficult to get sufficient funds for a film,” the director says, “and that is why Azerbaijani film-makers look abroad. However, not all film-makers have that opportunity.” As far as its international image is concerned, like most people in the cinema Mammadov is fairly optimistic: “Azerbaijani films are, of course, becoming popular abroad: they have not yet made a breakthrough but they are steadily successful.”

An example of our cinema’s success abroad in recent years may be judged by the film “The Precinct”, made two years ago by the “Narimanfilm” studios. It was awarded first place in the “feature-length film” category at the California Film Awards in the USA, beating rivals from France, Germany, Britain, Argentina, Spain and other countries. And a year earlier, in Los Angeles (California), our actor Timur Odushev, who appeared in “The Precinct”, won the nomination for “Best Actor in a Foreign Film” at the “Young Hollywood Talents” ceremony. “The Precinct” represented Azerbaijan at the Oscars and was included in the long list of prizes. Ilhar Safat wrote the screenplay, produced and directed the film.