Elchin Musaoglu

Elchin Musaoglu (Elchin Musa Guliyev; born Baku, Azerbaijan 11 July 1966) is a filmmaker.[1] He spent his youth in the villages of Azerbaijan where he made theatrical performances with other youths. He accepted fruit as payment for tickets. The most favorite performance was the operetta Arshin Mal Alan by Uzeyir Hajibeyov.

His father Musa Guliyev was a professor of historical sciences and he was eager to see Elchin become a historian. However, Elchin has been dedicated to cinema and his father accepted that and never hindered him.

When 17 years old, in 1983, he entered Azerbaijan State Institute of Arts and Culture, the faculty of theatre directors. As soon as he completed the 2nd course he was drafted to the Soviet Army in Ukraine, where he spent two years. After coming back from the army he continued his education both in Azerbaijan and Moscow. The last year of university he spent at the Lunacharsky State Institute for Theatre Arts in the workshop of Mark Zakharov.

In 1990 he was hired by Azerbaijanfilm as an assistant film director. The first film he produced was Leyli and Majnun based on the poem by Nizami Ganjavi (1990). He worked in Azertelefilm from 1994 to 2004 as a film director and produced more than 30 documentaries and short films.

In 2004 he established RITM Production Company together with his co-workers. The company produced documentaries, short films and The 40th Door, which was the first full-length feature film in the history of RITM Production Company as well as the film director and script writer Elchin Musaoglu.

Peter Debruge from Variety said: "'The 40th Door' is no Hollywood-style rags-to-riches tale, offering instead a stripped-down neorealist fable in the vein of Vittorio De Sica and the strong Iranian films of a decade ago. There may be something overly familiar about such stories by now, and yet this one feels fresh and free from cliche, a touching portrait with the potential for modest arthouse returns.”[2]

Elchin Musaoglu is a member Union of the Azerbaijan Cinematographers and the Union of Turkish Documentary Cinematographers, and a founder of the Society for Support of the Development of Documentary Films and Authorial Programs.

Festivals and awards

The 40th Door

"A Grain of Sand"

"The Sun and the Cloud"

"Glass Toys"

Filmography

References

  1. ↑ "Festival de Cine Internacional de Ourense" [International Film Festival - Elchin Musaoglu]. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  2. ↑ Review: “The 40th Door” Peter Debruge, Variety, July 15, 2009