Rustam Ibragimbekov

Rustam Ibragimbekov
Rustam Ibragimbekov, 29 March 2010
Born	Rustam Mammad Ibrahim oglu Ibrahimbeyov February 5, 1939 (1939-02-05) Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, USSR
Occupation	film director, screenwriter and cinematographer

Rustam Mammad Ibrahim oglu Ibrahimbeyov, also spelled Ibragimbekov (Azerbaijani: Rüstəm Məmməd İbrahim oğlu İbrahimbəyov; Russian: Рустам Ибрагимбеков; born February 5, 1939, Baku) is Azerbaijani, Soviet and an Azerbaijani-American screenwriter, dramatist and producer, well known beyond his home Azerbaijan and the CIS.

Rustam Ibragimbekov was born in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR to Mammad Ibrahimbeyov and Fatima Meshadibeyova. He is the younger brother of Magsud Ibrahimbeyov, an Azerbaijani writer and politician. Rustam Ibragimbekov graduated from Azerbaijan Oil and Chemistry Institute, then studied script writing and film directing at VGIK in Moscow. His writing credits include more than 40 film and television scripts, numerous plays and pieces of prose, and nearly all of his scripts were eventually made into full feature or TV films. Among his most noteworthy film work is White Sun of the Desert (1970, Белое солнце пустыни), Interrogation (1979, Допрос), Guard Me, My Talisman (1986, Храни меня, мой талисман), Urga (Урга, Территория любви, 1991), Burnt by the Sun (1994, Утомлённые солнцем), The Barber of Siberia (1998, Сибирский цирюльник), East/West (1999), Broken Bridges (2004) and Nomad (2005/2007).

White Sun of the Desert (1969), for which he co-wrote the script with Valentin Yezhov, has become a cult film in former USSR. Russian cosmonauts consider it a good omen to watch before they prepare for a launch.

Since 1990 Ibragimbekov has been collaborating closely as scriptwriter with Nikita Mikhalkov. Urga, Territory of Love, directed by Mikhalkov and released in North America as "Close to Eden", won the Golden Lion Award in the Venice Film Festival as well as the Felix Award in Berlin as Best European Film. "Close to Eden" was also nominated for American Film Academy Award (Oscar) in 1992 as Best Foreign Language Film. “Burnt by the Sun” (directed by Nikita Mikhalkov) received an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1994 and Grand Prize of the Jury at 47th Cannes International Film Festival; their film “The Barber of Siberia” was the most expensive European production of 1997. Ibragimbekov was co-screenwriter with Sergei Bodrov of French director Régis Wargnier's Oscar-nominated 1999 movie "East/West".

In addition to being a screenwriter, Rustam Ibragimbekov is a well-known writer - several Collected Works were published in Russia, Azerbaijan and abroad. He also wrote over ten theatre plays that were staged in numerous theatres. Rustam Ibragimbekov is also credited with several full feature films which he directed.

Ibragimbekov is currently the Chairman of the Confederation of Filmmakers' Unions (CFU), which represents filmmakers from all of the former Soviet republics, Secretary of the Russian Filmmakers' Union, and member of European Film Academy and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He splits his time between Baku, Azerbaijan, Moscow, Russia and Los Angeles, California, where he owns a house in Santa Monica.

Honours and awards

This article incorporates information from the equivalent article on the Russian Wikipedia.

• Honoured Artist of Azerbaijan SSR (1976)
• Lenin Komsomol Prize (1979) - a scenario kinofilmlv "White Sun of the Desert" (1969), "A Tale Chekist" (1969) and plays "Home on the Sand" (1976), "Interrogation, or Moment of Truth" (1978)
• State Prize of Azerbaijan SSR (1980) - a script for the film "Birthday" (1978)
• USSR State Prize (1981) - for the screenplay "Interrogation" (1979)
• State Prize of the Russian Federation (1993) - a script for the film "Urga" (1991); for the screenplay of the film "Burnt by the Sun" (1994); for the screenplay of the film "White Sun pusyni" (1969); for the screenplay of the film "The Barber of Siberia" (1998)
• Honoured Artist of Russia (December 28, 1995)
• Grand Prix of the MTF of the Commonwealth of Independent States countries (1998)
• Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 3rd class (9 February 1999) - for outstanding contribution to the development of national cinematography
• Prize for best feature film of the Interregional Festival "Eurasia Kaleidoscope" (2000)
• Diploma of the Moscow City Duma (2009)
• Honorary member of the Arts
• Academy Award ("Oscar") for Best Foreign Language Film, "Burnt by the Sun" (1994, American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)

Renouncing the Order of Arts and Letters

Ibrahimbeyov was awarded the title of Commander of the French Order of Arts and Letters in 2000. He renounced this award in 2012 as a sign of protest against a French law crimilizing the refusal of qualifying the 1915 events as "the Armenian genocide." In an open letter, he stated: "For opportunistic purposes and electoral gains, which are so highly insignificant compared to the democratic image of the country, there has been passed a law preventing the people of France from exercising their basic civil right of self-expression." Ibrahimbeyov also quit the position of President of the Azerbaijan—France Cultural Ties Society.

External links

• Interview with Rustam Ibrahimbeyov after winning 1995 Oscar for writing screenplay for Best Foreign Film "Burnt by the Sun", Azerbaijan International, Vol. 3:2 (Summer 1995), pp. 8-11.
• "Famous People, Then and Now - Rustam Ibrahimbeyov," in Azerbaijian International, Vol. 7:4 (Winter 1999), pp. 22-23.
• Biography of Rustam Ibragimbekov (In Russian)
• Rustam Ibragimbekov at the Internet Movie Database
• Short story by Rustam Ibrahimbeyov, "Music Lesson" in Azerbaijan International, Vol. 12:1 (Spring 2004), pp. 94-97.