GAMES WITH CINEMA

The young Azerbaijani film director and screenwriter Elvin Adigozal believes that the art house, or, more simply, auteur cinema is not intended for the general audience. It was created for the thinking viewer who has critical thoughts. Auteur movies are aimed at disclosing the inner world of man. And it does not matter what the world is like - light or dark. Sometimes these movies, as they say, openly show the reality for what it really is.

- Elvin, tell us about yourself. How did you come to cinema?

- I was born in a family of teachers and doctors in Goranboy. I grew up in a big old house located in the heart of the district. I lived with my mother, grandmother and grandfather. My uncle's family often came to visit us. The time was difficult: there was no gas in the district, and special water trucks brought us drinking water for money. I grew up without any entertainment. There were no cinemas or film clubs in our district. We had to settle for an old TV set, which showed only three channels. Every evening, I experimented with the antenna, trying to catch at least some channel that broadcast a film. I liked to watch movies. I could do it for hours until the grandmother began to grumble. Then I came up with a kind of game that involved my friends and cousins. I made up different stories in my mind, assigned roles, and we all became actors. We played movies. In the 10th grade, I decided that I wanted to connect my life with cinema or theatre. But I didn't know how to realize my dream and where to start. Guys I knew told me that there was a guy in our district who once studied at the acting faculty in Baku, but unable to withstand financial difficulties and problems, he was forced to drop out from the second year and return home. I found him and bombarded him with questions. The guy told me how difficult it was for a student from the village to survive in the city without an apartment and financial assistance from the outside. So he was forced to bury his cherished dream of cinema, returned home to earn a living and worked as a loader. I remember that I wondered all night whether I was going to choose the right path. In the morning, I decided - in spite of everything, I'll go to Baku and enter the coveted university. There were several months to the entrance exams, and I decided to get ready in order not to blunder in front of the commission. At the scheduled time, I arrived in the capital and submitted my documents to the Theatre Directing faculty of the Arts and Culture University and easily entered it. I lived at my aunt's place in Baku. After classes, I loved to watch cable TV. Once on one of the channels I caught one of the auteur films I'd seen on my grandmother's old TV set in Goranboy for the first time many years ago. I was surprised to learn that this film, as they say, was from the film festival series. I realized that I was interested in exactly this kind of cinema - honest and frank and built on inner emotions and reality. It was then that I conceived my first film, but it needed money. To earn more, I found a job at one of the capital's television stations, where I met Dadas Adna. He worked in the archive and was well versed in photography and camera business. Dadas and I started talking, and I told him about the idea for the film. He agreed, and I gave him a list of pictures I had to see to have an idea what kind of movie I was going to shoot. So, without any bells and whistles and technical equipment and with only one camera and microphone in my hand, the short films "In the Fog" and "The Return" appeared. Dadas also helped me with the filming of the movie "Chameleon", and we would have continued to cooperate, but he fell ill and died. 

- Your films differ with some special meditative atmosphere - a minimum of dialogue, a maximum of feelings and inner emotions. These pictures always contain a metaphor. What kind of information do you want to convey to the audience?

- I shoot movies not for everyone. When I write a script, I don't think what kind of specific information I want to convey to the audience. While filming, I try not to focus on the plot. Understanding and identifying the main idea of the picture comes only when I edit it, I look through the footage, highlight the main idea and build the film on my inner feelings. It's possible that while viewing my work, some viewers don't immediately understand the essence of the picture ... For the most part it so happens ... But people are sure to remember the feelings and emotions they experience while viewing my movie. This is an immediate reaction, a kind of "aftertaste", and it defines the basic meaning of my picture.

- Almost all of your pictures are devoted to the life of people from the province. Why is there such an interest in this neglected subject?

- Probably, because I'm from the province. I know how these people live, what they think and worry about, what they dream about and what they want. I know how complicated and, at times, tragic and hopeless their lives are. Hatred and compassion, the desire to break taboos and the fear of condemnation by society intertwine there. Nevertheless, it's there, in the provinces, where you can meet unique and colourful characters that can't be found in the capital.

- Your film "Chameleon", shot together with Rufat Hasanov, was noted by critics as "an example of successful independent cinema in terms of festivals" at the International Film Festival in Locarno (Switzerland). Tell us about this picture and how it was shot?

- In 2010, I returned from the army and didn't know what to do next. I was sitting in Goranboy and couldn't find work. Suddenly I got a call from Baku and was told that my short film "In the Fog" will be presented at an international film forum in Baku. I immediately rushed to the capital, taking all of my previous works with me. As a result, the film "In the Fog" took one of the prizes, and I was noticed. There, at the forum, I met the young director Rufat Hasanov and producer Irada Bagirzada. Rufat gave me an idea to write a script about a young man who, disillusioned with life in Moscow, decided to return to his native Azerbaijan. I was interested in this topic, and changing the story a little bit, I wrote a script for the future film "Chameleon". This is a story about two young men - Nicat, who comes from Russia to Baku in order to sell his father's house, and Ali, who bought the house and planned to move his family into it. Suddenly, French producer Guillaume de Ciel, who is engaged in independent cinema, became interested in the script. Everything was ready for the film, but we had no money for it. After a while, Rufat and Irada managed to find the necessary amount, and we went to work in Goychay as a friendly crew. The film was shot in six days without professional light and with one camera and two lenses. We only had two beginner actors. The remaining characters in the film are ordinary villagers who wanted to star in a movie. In 2013, our film "Chameleon" entered into the parallel competition programme of the Locarno International Festival "Filmmakers of the Present", which is undoubtedly a great success for Azerbaijani auteur cinema. After all, this festival is one of the most important in Europe - it belongs to the first category. Although this event is taking place in a small Swiss town, it annually receives a huge number of movie-goers, filmmakers and film critics.

- In the movies you've made - "In the Fog", "She", "Return", there is a kind of uncertainty and depression. Why does a young director have such pessimism?

- A very interesting question ... You know, life is a long beautiful journey that you have to pass with dignity, a sense of love and peace. Not everyone succeeds ... I live in the province with my mother and grandmother, and we are confronted with many everyday problems. Often I go to Baku for work and on the way I meet different people and hear different stories of life. You know, the differences between urban residents and people from the provinces are becoming more pronounced and sharper every year. Life in the capital and life in the country are like two different planets with a distinct lifestyle and worldview. And this discrepancy makes me feel depressed and hopeless. Therefore, my films turn out to be somewhat gloomy and full of despair. That's life…

- The goal of most current filmmakers is a huge box office and thousands in profit. What's your goal?

- My goal is to leave my own mark in the history of auteur cinema so that after many, many years, looking at my films, people could learn ... I want to participate in various international festivals, I want to receive prizes and awards, I want people to know that in Azerbaijan they know and are able to make films.

- How do you assess what's happening in the Azerbaijani film industry? It seems to be divided into auteur cinema, which it's almost impossible to see in cinemas, and extremely commercial films that are trying to make money at the box office?

- This is normal. With the advent of technical abilities and the Internet, many took up cinema. People want to somehow assert and show themselves to the world and others. And, admittedly, in most cases these latter-day "directors" and "cameramen" have little understanding of cinema. The main thing for them is to arrange a festive and noisy presentation the press will write about and to collect good dividends from the screening of the film. I call these pictures - "popcorn movies". It's not serious and somehow childish. Of course, it's temporary and transient. Phoney directors, like phoney actors, will be quickly forgotten and will go into oblivion. To ensure that national cinema really develops and finally rises to the world level, it's necessary to work hard in this direction. I think that first of all, Azerbaijan should join the Eurimages Fund, an organization that funds and supports film distribution and film production of European cinema. Neighbouring countries - Georgia, Armenia and Turkey - have long become members of Eurimages, but Azerbaijan is still unable to make up its mind on this matter. Our Ministry of Culture should understand how this alliance is important for the country and the development of national cinema. Eurimages is a kind of "window to Europe" for filmmakers. In addition, we need to organize various international film forums in Azerbaijan, invite foreign producers who could choose interesting and promising, in their view, film projects here, and shoot and show them in Europe. It's necessary to organize film screenings and festivals and open several film clubs that will bring filmmakers together. The state should allocate grants for the development of cinema.

- If you had the opportunity to shoot a "big-time" movie, what would your picture be about?

- It definitely wouldn't be a romance or a thriller. If I had the opportunity to shoot a "big-time" film today, in our time, and not after 10-15 years, it would be a story about villagers again. I'd love to do a film about people who lived in the 1950s. My grandmother often told me about that time - about decent men and women who worked really hard, believed in a happy future and had clean souls. They lived in the Soviet Union - a country that seemed highly spiritual and international outwardly, while a lot of injustice and even cruelty hid behind this image.

- What movies do you watch at your leisure? What do you like from world cinema?

- Previously, I often revised movies by Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan. I don't understand and don't accept modern Turkish cinema. Recently, I became addicted to Israeli and Romanian films. I especially like to watch festival movies, which remained unnoticed by European film critics and jurors. I especially enjoy watching Latin American movies. I recently watched a film by Argentine director and scriptwriter Ariel Rotter "The Other" and a movie by Rodrigo Pla "The Delay" from Mexico. Incredibly interesting movies! I love it when pictures are complex in their understanding, thoughtful and meaningful. Cinema should not only entertain, but also reflect and use its brains...

- Elvin, what are you working on now? Tell us about your new film project...

- Recently, I completed work on a new film. It's a full-length feature movie, for which I haven't invented a name yet. The film's producer is Intiqam Intis. In the near future, I'm going to sign a contract with a producer from France, who will take care of the further fate of the picture. It's possible that he will be joined by producers from Turkey and Germany. I very much want my movie to be seen in other countries too. This is what I'm working for. I'm not interested in the commercial side of my job at all. I've never shot for the sake of material gain. I'm just doing what I love, putting my heart and soul in my work. This is my way, and I will not deviate from it!