PAGANINI OF DIRECTORSHIP

The story of his life began on September 24, 1928 in the Old City. His father's house was located on Zamkovskaya Street, near the Palace of the Shirvan Shahs. His father Hajiagha had owned 6-7 houses in the old town. Before the war, he was the head of the party organization, and after that had managed several markets of the city. Arif’s mother Sariyya-khanim was a housewife, who had also grown up in a wealthy family – she was the daughter of the famous merchant Zeynal, nicknamed for his miserliness Zeynal the Jew.

Tough guy

Arif Babayev grew up in a unique environment of the Old City. He was the oldest child in the family, the first born among the five brothers. None of his siblings would oppose him. As a child, he was very fond of football. He would not have got tired playing the game with his peers. The Sabir Square was their playground. He had loved to watch movies in theaters since his childhood, was collecting pictures of favourite football players, reading books and news about the cinema.

Sariyya-khanim, who used to play accordion, was the only family member interested in arts. In childhood, when jazz had become extremely popular, Arif Babayev had a great desire to play the trumpet. But his father was objecting to his desire more than everybody else. Hajiagha was unhappy that his son would play the trumpet and forget about national musical instruments. But he was not able to overcome the persistence of Arif.

One day an event was organized at Arif’s school. The parents of pupils were also invited. Arif read a poem and this revealed his talent to many. After the teachers had appraised Arif’s performance during the event, Hajiagha had returned home very satisfied. From that day on, he stopped resisting the wishes of his son. He had not objected even when his son began attending the drama club at the House of Pioneers.

Arif Babayev joined the drama club during the difficult war times. At the same time, he had managed to enter the theater school. When Arif was 15 years old, he had his first small role in the play İbrət on the scene of the Young Spectators Theatre. So, he started getting familiar with the big stage. Our first national theater director Aghaali Dadashov had cast him in other performances as well: Məlikməmməd and Qaraca qız.

Chief Director

In 1947, Arif Babayev was admitted to Directing Department of the Azerbaijan State Institute of Arts, where he studied under the tutorship of the famous film director, actor and teacher Mehdi Mammadov. Upon graduation in 1953, he was assigned to work at the Nakhchivan State Theater, where he had staged Gogol's The Marriage. Soon after that, he returned to Baku. He had spent some time as the director of Pioneer Garden under the auspices of the Baku Department of Education. Then, he continued his career as the director of the Theatre of Young Spectators.

In 1956, the director of Azerbaijani State Television (AzTV) Rauf Kazimovsky invited Arif Babayev to the newly established TV. Due to his own projects and programs, he had immediately became popular. In 1959, Arif Babayev was appointed Chief Director. Over the years on television, he has directed such documentaries as Şəhərimizin uşaqları (The Children of Our City), Respublika haqqında əfsanə (Legend of the Republic), Biz arzu edənlər nəslindənik (We Are the Generation of Dreamers), as well as dramas based on the works of famous authors such as Musa Jalil (Moabit Notebook), Taras Shevchenko (The Blind Woman), Rasul Rza (The Law), Mehdi Huseyn ( The Morning).

On Central Television in Moscow, where he was assigned, he proved to be a professional television director and returned with the title of "Paganini of Directorship".

In 1964, Arif Babayev became the Honored Art Worker, the first man on television awarded this honorary title.

In his own world

In the same year, he was invited to Azerbaijanfilm. Cinematography was the world of his dreams, where he had lived for many years. And in this world, Arif Babayev has created his own world ... His first success in the cinema was the short feature film Zirvə (Peak) as part of the almanac Kimi daha çox sevirik (Whom we most love) and filmed based on the script by Imran Gasimov in 1964. Other majestic peaks were waiting for the talented director ahead.

Many directors, even those who have studied in Moscow, had to wait for years to get necessary permissions for filming. Making a film without a diploma was nearly impossible. However, there were no obstacles for Arif Babayev. Nobody even asked him about the diploma. After Zirvə, he shot eight more feature films: İnsan məskən salır (1966), Uşaqlığın son gecəsi (1970), Gün keçdi (1972), Ömrün ilk saatı (1975), Alma almaya bənzər (1976), Arxadan vurulan zərbə (1978), Bizi bağışlayın (1980), Birisigün, gecəyarısı... (1981).

For his achievements in cinema, Arif Babayev received the title of the laureate of the State Prize. Birisigün, gecəyarısı… has earned him the award of the Committee for State Security, “For merits in literature and arts". Arif Babayev was the first Azerbaijani director honored with this award.

The fame, prestige and respect had not changed his character. He had remained the same morose, unsociable, and quick-tempered person with a mild and gentle character.

In 1958 died his mother Sariyya Khanum. Two years before that, he lost his father. Together with these losses, ended his lifetime in the Old City. After the death of his parents, Arif Babayev could not get along with his brothers. The only way was to leave the home. He had been renting apartments in different parts of Baku for 15 years. Later, he was given an apartment in a newly built building next to the film studio.

Although he moved from his native home and the quarter, where he grew up, his soul and spirit has always been in the Old City. He would often come to visit his younger brothers Vasif and Azer. But it was not only his love for brothers that had drawn him to the Old City - there was his world of full of secrets and inexhaustible love...

Dreaming of love

Arif Babayev had not fulfilled the dream of his parents. He had not listened to reproaches of his mother, remained deaf to her dreams of grandchildren and never married. Even after the death of his parents, he had not married. In fact, he was surrounded by beautiful women. Many of them loved him, wanted to marry him. Some even proposed him to have a family. Once he would nearly married Najiba Malikova because of his crazy love for another woman. That woman, Nina Yarovaya, had great achievements in the development of Russian television journalism in Azerbaijan. They used to work at the same department. Nina was the editor-in-chief, Arif was the director.

His love was not unrequited. Nina loved him too. But she was married. Arif Babayev often went to visit them. He knew the husband of Nina, her children. He did not want to destroy their family. But a few years later, Nina divorced her husband and married another. Arif Babayev had told the second husband of Nina: "Take care of her, Nina is the kindest person in the world".

He had burned his life in that love, which brought him only sadness and grief. Emotional loneliness was worse than his solitary existence, which took possession of his soul. He even reflected certain features of his character in many of his films. For example Arif Babayev identifies himself with Ogtay, the protagonist of his Gün keçdi and based on Anar’s short story Gürcü familyası. In this film, the director had showed his world, his loneliness. Maybe that is why after watching the film, Anar admitted that he did not recognize his own script.

Arif Babayev’s films also tell us different stories about the loneliness of the Old City, its unique environment and the residents. To be able to describe the Old City in such real and complete details, one has to love it as did Arif Babayev...

A humble dandy

He had never had an ego problem, viewing himself as overly special. He was not fond of being in public, avoided collective photos, and chose back seats whenever possible not to attract attention. At the events, he always used to delete his own name from the list of speakers.

But he still was loved by many for what he was - unsociable and taciturn. His closest childhood friend was Vagif Mustafazadeh. They had many things in common. Later, they often used to gather at Intourist Hotel with Magsud and Rustam Ibrahimbayovs, Anar, Yusif Samadoghlu chatting there up until the next morning. As a rule, Arif Babayev had been eating at the hotel’s restaurant. Although he lived alone, he still had not learned how to cook.

He was spending a lot, especially on clothes. He had liked to dress with the latest fashion. He used to pay three-fold price for imported clothes, which were difficult to find at ordinary shops during the Soviet period.

One day Arif Babayev said, "If you have no more desire to renew the worn-out shoes and clothes, then the death is near." Maybe he had already felt that his life saga is nearing an end. He loved life. One cannot create immortal works without love... But he seemed to have no more willingness to fight for his life. Health left him. Although diabetes had been torturing him, he had never applied to hospitals since he hated them. He had not looked after his health. When he was forced to go to the hospital, it was found out that he had also tuberculosis. His condition was not hopeless. He believed in the healing. After all, there were still unfinished business, unrealized dreams. He was going to film a new documentary about the intelligentsia of the Old City based on his own script written in 1983.

But on August 26, 1983 he passed away at a hospital. Arif Babayev was buried on the next day, August 27. The same day when we used to celebrate the professional holiday of cinema workers. Azerbaijani cinema has lost yet another talented director...