Elmar Imanov: İ planned to be a biologist

   In June, young film director, Elmar Imanov, an Azerbaijani living in Germany, was awarded the Bronze Award of the American Academy for Young Filmmakers (Student Oscar) for Best Foreign Film.

   This award was given for his short film "Swing for the undertaker." The half-hour film is about complicated relationships of a father and his mentally retarded son. The filming took place in the area of Jangi, 55 km from Baku in 2011.

    Twenty seven year old Elmar Imanov moved with his parents in the 1990s  to reside permanently in the German city of Cologne, where he graduated from the International School of Cinema. So far, he has shot several short and documentary films.

     In an interview with Turan, he shared his views on the film and life and expressed his plans.

Q: You are the first Azerbaijani film director who has received so much appreciation, a bronze statuette Oscar. Even as a student's award it is certainly a great success. But whose success is it - Azerbaijan or rather Germany?

Answer: True, I am the first Azerbaijani filmmaker, but not the first German. Students of German film schools are often among the winners of the Student Oscar.

   The German Film School is one of the most powerful ones in the world. Unfortunately, after graduation, many of them go on TV and do not make movies.

    In answer to your question, I would say that, in my opinion, this success belongs to German and Azerbaijani cinema. I am convinced that if given the conditions of Azerbaijanis, they certainly achieved considerable success.

  Q: Who do you feel yourself more: German or Azeri? Has the departure for Europe affected your outlook?

  Answer: Both Azerbaijan and Germany are close to me. What I feel myself as my nationality is uncertain. I do not make a distinction between people on a national basis, especially myself. Of course, I love cheese from Nakhichevan, but I also never refuse a Kölsch beer from Cologne (laughs).

  Q: Why did you decide to become a director?

  Answer: When I was in the Cologne school, I had good grades in biology, and I even became the first student in the history of the school who participated in the competition of young scientists. So I was preparing to enter the Faculty of Biology. But one day my biology teacher asked me to play in his amateur film he shot in his spare time. Seeing the film shot by another person, I wanted to do the same thing, and we began making films with friends.

But I thought not to enroll for the Filmmaking Faculty, because the competition is crazy there. So I joined the Biology Faculty, and when I came with this good news to the teacher of biology, he said: "You should not do this. Try to become a filmmaker." These words became a turning point: I took a chance and enrolled for Filmmaking.

Q: What is your movie: an expression of your own "I" or a desire to create certain emotions in the audience?

Answer: In principle, both of them. If the audience is not interested in watching a movie, then the movie is not interesting. Nobody makes movies for himself, but that does not mean that films should be for all- that is- to please everybody. I think they should be somewhere in between. This is primarily a medium for expression on your own. Some people like to paint, some make a film, but for some it is better not to do anything.

Q: What filmmakers inspire you and why?

A: Different ones, and many of them. Through the work of directors you can communicate with them. And talks with interesting people are always inspiring.

Q: What do you think of the modern Azerbaijani cinema?

Answer: I think I have no right to evaluate Azerbaijani cinema. I do not have enough information, no doubt, there are people who know this better. I do not know all of it.

Q: Do you often visit Baku?

A: Sometimes. For example, last year we were shooting my thesis. And my last visit was in the spring. My friend, producer Teymur Hajiyev made a project of five short films commissioned by the Ministry of Taxes of Azerbaijan. They were films by five young filmmakers, mostly newcomers. My colleague from film school, Engin Kundag, and I decided to take part and produce a creative experiment – shoot a diptych: two complementary pictures. I hope that the results of this experiment will be interesting.

* We were  told by the producer, the project is tentatively entitled “Five” and is at the last stage of the post-production period; in the fall, all the five films, including the diptych, will be presented to the public. The essence of the project is to provide an opportunity for young filmmakers (not having a feature film in their background) to shoot a "short one" on any subject. The only creative limitation set by the customer is the presence of a cash receipt in one of the episodes.