Maria Yatskova-Ibrahimova
Directing
Biography
Maria Ibrahimova's debut film, the documentary Miss Gulag (2007), was produced with support from the Sundance Institute and the Ford Foundation. It premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival (2007) in the Panorama section, and screened at 40 festivals and on TV around the world including on the BBC. Maria also directed and produced several award-winning short films, and documentaries as well as commercial work through her production company Cinex, based in Baku, Azerbaijan. She recently produced her first feature film, Balıqçı qızı (2020), with Russian producer Alexander Rodnyansky (Leviafan (2014), Nelyubov (2017)), distributed by Wild Bunch and premiering at the Moscow International Film Festival (2020). Currently, she is developing her directorial feature debut HAZEL EYES with Turkish producer Zeynep Özbatur Atakan (Bir Zamanlar Anadolu'da (2011), Qis Yuxusu (2014)), which she presented to international co-producers at the Berlinale Co-Production Market (2020). Most recently Maria produced We Are Russia (2019) a documentary about the youth movement that supports the recently poisoned activist Alexei Navalny. Directed by Alexandra Dalsbaek, the film premiered at the Visions du Reel film festival in 2020 and will have its North American premiere at DOCNYC. Maria is also developing the documentary DREAMER, about an all-girls football team in rural Azerbaijan, directed by Imam Hasanov (Holy Cow (2015)). c. IMDB
Known For
In a tiny Azerbaijani fishing village young Sarah's father disappears at sea. Misfortunes abound until the superstitious inhabitants demand a funeral. Rebellious Sarah undertakes one last, and deadly, attempt to find her father.
The Fisherman's Daughter
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Forgive Me Tonight
After losing all he holds dear in a senseless war, Hasan, an elderly refugee goes on a fateful journey to rescue his beloved horse.
Hazel Eyes
The surreal and the everyday intersect when two visitors from space land in rural Azerbaijan and observe a coach trying to form the country’s first all-female football team.
Dreamers - People of Light
Through the prism of a beauty pageant staged by female inmates of a Siberian prison camp emerges a complex narrative of the lives of the first generation of women to come of age in Post-Soviet Russia. Miss GULAG explores the individual destinies of three women: Yulia, Tatiana, and Natasha, all bound together by long prison sentences and circumstances that have made them the vigilantes of their own destinies. For these women, undoubtedly, life is harsh under the constant surveillance of UF-91/9, but it is no less so on the outside. Today they, their families, and loved ones are sustained by hope for a better life upon release. This is a story of survival told from both sides of the fence.
Miss Gulag
Young theatre actress Mina struggles to play the role of scandalous 12th century poetess Mahsati Ganjavi. Urged to loosen up by her friends, she goes on a night on the town, seeking inspiration. When she meets an attractive stranger, their agendas remain hidden beneath the veneer of an Eastern fairy tale.