AZERBAIJANI OSCAR WINNER

Young Azerbaijani film director Elmar Imanov, living in Germany, has won a Student Academy Award in the "Best Foreign Film" nomination for his short film "The Swing of the Coffin Maker". More recently, his work was also recognized by the Union of Film Critics of Germany. "The Swing of the Coffin Maker" won the first place in the "Best Short Film of the Year" nomination. Elman Imanov speaks about his success, the philosophy of the film and his views on cinema for R+.

- Weren't you afraid to send your film for the award of the world's most prestigious film academy? 

- At that time I was not thinking about winning. When we were informed that our film was sent into the Student Academy Awards, we did not believe that we would get into the top three winners. The main thing for us was to take part in this competition. The schools that are part of the union of film schools of the world are entitled to send one of their films to the Student Oscar once a year. Usually they conduct a festival season to see what film deserves to go to the USA. There was no festival season here in Germany because our film school is small - it produces students every two years. Therefore, diploma films are shot every two years.

- What is "The Swing of the Coffin Maker" about? And why do you think it has won bronze in the "Best Foreign Film" nomination?

- "The Swing of the Coffin Maker" is a story about the relations between a father and a son. after the death of his wife, coffin maker Yaqub mistreats his mentally retarded son Musa. But when son becomes terminally ill, Yaqub reconsiders his attitude, albeit in his own way. I think that my film has been noticed and picked out because this is a fairly universal story. 

- You not only the film director, but also its screenwriter. How did the theme of "fathers and children" emerge and what is the main idea of the script?

- I have contributed to the writing of scripts for my films. For two of them I wrote texts in collaboration with other writers, and for the rest, including my diploma paper, I wrote it on my own. Regarding the choice of the topic, it is a decision completely uncontrolled by conventional mechanisms. Suddenly something becomes close in spirit or you suddenly feel that you passionately want to see some scenes that do not yet exist. For example, the story about the coffin maker was inspired by Chekhov's "Rothschild's Fiddle".

- Where did the shooting take place? How did you choose the actors? Where did you find an abandoned house?

- We have traveled almost the whole country, from Baku to Zagatala and Astara, looking for a lonely old house standing on the sidelines. We finally found it in Cangi, in Gobustan District, 50 km from Baku. As for the actors, we have worked with Samil Suleymanli a couple of times in other film productions. I knew he could play the role of the father. And he did. I saw Rasim Cafarov, who was entrusted the role of the son, in a movie called "Missing", which was shown in the "Berlinale" film festival. I got in touch with him. He, in turn, advised Qurban Ismayilov and Zulfiya Qurbanova. And he made no mistake either. And Emin Samadzada is a friend of our family's. I would love to work with all these actors again. They are wonderful people who are pleasant to work and communicate with. Film producer Eva Blondio, despite not knowing the language, organized the shooting so well that I did not even notice we were working outside Germany. Six people, the cameraman and his assistant, sound and light engineers, and a make-up artist, had come from Germany with me. We did the editing, sound and color correction there.

- The theme of domestic violence has become increasingly urgent in the world in recent years. How do you think this phenomenon should be dealt with?

- Only by law. Domestic violence is always difficult to uncover. Therefore, people have to overcome family "barriers" and call the police. Only then will people realize that violence is punishable. Of course, it is always difficult for a victim to come and say that her husband, brother or son are beating her up. Most people don't like to wash dirty linen in public.

- You live and work in Germany. How did you get there? Tell us about your family. Do you feel more as a native or a stranger there?

- I feel both. It is hard to say that life in Germany did not affect me at all, although I myself thought so for a long time. I think it does not matter whether you are a German or Azerbaijani. The person should be the same always and everywhere. And such a division into "natives" and "strangers" is unacceptable for me. As for my family, my parents are architects. It was them who made the decision to go to Germany. My mother Ofelia Imanova is also an artist. I went to school in this country. My brother works at a literature institute. In Baku, we grew up in the house of our great grandfather in Mammadaliyev Street. If you remember, there was a house with the Atlanteans in Baku, but it is not there any more and, alas, never will be.

- Why did you decide to become a filmmaker? How did it all begin?

- As a child, I never even dreamed of becoming a filmmaker. At a Cologne school I was interested in biology and even participated in an Olympiad. My biology teacher was shooting amateur movies. One day he invited me to play a brief role. This was when I saw that what an interesting thing it was to create movies. But I never thought of studying for a film director - the competition there was crazy. So I entered the biology department and when I came to share this good news with my teacher of biology, he said, "You shouldn't, you should become a film director." These words were a turning point. I took a chance and succeeded. And then I passed a rigorous competition and entered the IFS, the International Film School in Cologne.

- Do you have any idols in world cinema? What films did you enjoy watching as a kid?

- I have many favorite movies, so it is not easy to choose any particular ones. Of Azerbaijani films, I like "Sharing the bread". I watch this movie regularly. Movies for me are a source of inspiration ... especially if a movie is good.

- Creative plans. Do you have any ideas?

- Actually, there are plenty of ideas, but none of them has been formulated clearly. Newcomers in Germany have a real opportunity to shoot a full movie - there are special grants allocated from the budget. I think some public television stations can help in that too.