Documentary about Kara Karaev premiered at Baku Piano Festival

A restored English version of the legendary documentary film "This is the voice of the Truth: Composer Kara Karaev" has premiered at the International Mugham Center under the auspices of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.

Produced in 1968 by outstanding film director Oktay Mir-Gasim, the film was screened within Baku International Piano Festival, Azernews reports.

The curator of the festival's film program was film expert Ulvi Mehdi. The documentary was screened with the support of the Azerbaijan Filmmakers' Union.

The film premiere was timed to the 105th anniversary of Kara Karaev and the 80th anniversary of Oktay Mir-Gasim, who shot the documentary.

Chairman of the Azerbaijan Filmmakers' Union Shafiga Mammadova, the chairman of the Azerbaijani Composers' Union Frangiz Alizade, artists, media personalities, heads of diplomatic missions attended the event.

The host of the evening, Tofig Hasansoy, especially noted the work of Ulvi Mehdi, who is the curator of the Baku Piano Festival`s film programs.

Film director Oktay Mir-Gasim shared with the audience the details of the filming process and how maestro Karaev smoked cigarettes in a special way during rehearsals in painstaking work with the orchestra, achieving the desired result.

For the audience, the film became a moment of revelation, where Kara Karaev, from the symbol of the titan of the era, suddenly appears in completely everyday realities.

The documentary shows how the maestro strolls through streets in Baku, talking on the phone to solve issues of his colleagues.

The composer`s persuasive image with a phone in his hand left no one indifferent.

The documentary also includes an interview with Kara Karaev's mother, who noticed his talent at an early age.

The black-and-white film has been produced in the Cinema Verite (Kinopravda) documentary style rooted in the traditions of Dziga Vertov's avant-garde cinema.

The filming process includes creative improvisation with interviews and observations of real or impromptu situations, where the image of the maestro expands the possibilities for realizing the author's intention of the thesis of a VGIK graduate, film director Oktay Mir-Gasim.

The film director created a film document of the era and visualized non-fiction films in the genre of a narrative "essay film" by means of parallel editing.

The documentary garnered a standing ovation. Film director Oktay Mir-Gasim introduced to the public a graduate of the workshop course Kara Karaev, composer of modern music Frangiz Alizade, who, in turn, thanked the film director for embodying the unique student atmosphere of the legendary 60s and her appearance with the legend of world music literally in the film.

The film premiere was followed by a concert program with participation of Honored Artist Nargiz Aliyeva.

Media partners of the event are Azernews.Az, Trend.Az, Day.Az and Milli.Az.