
Asif Rustamov
Writing
Biography
Asif Rustamov was born in 1975 in Baku (Azerbaijan) and studied at the private Economic University (1992-1995) and Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Art (2000-2004) – cinema department, film director faculty. His filmography includes shorts and documentaries, which have screened at and been awarded by many international festivals. In 2014 his debut feature Down The River premiered at Karlovy Vary Film Festival, participated in many festivals, and won several prizes. Cofounder of the Association of Young Filmmakers of Azerbaijan, he is one of the editors of the film magazine “Focus”.
Known For

Inspired by Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, the film follows a prodigal son who returns after 12 years. His reappearance at the family home in rural Azerbaijan significantly alters their way of life.
Pomegranate Orchard

A young woman with a broken family is looking for happiness. She wants to remarry to get rid of loneliness, so she decides to use the Internet. The film also reflects the impact of the current transition period, economic and political changes on the intellectual families of Baku. But more women and their psychology came to the fore. The psychological crises of a modern woman, family relationships are reflected in the film.
Liars

Local healer embarks on the path of revenge against the Russian Bolsheviks who captured his native village, establishing their own rules there.
The Wizard

The movie is about the mixed relationships between a failed artist and his girlfriend. Returning home after a long period of imprisonment, the father tries to improve his son's life in the most radical ways.
Cold as Marble

The film tells the story of two amateur musicians, Kamran and Majnun, whose roads cross with Tamilla and Sara, a grandmother and her granddaughter and the events following this acquaintance. As a result of an unexpected event, a well-known sports commentator is forced to spend New Year's Eve with a rock musician who has not found himself, and a grandmother suffering from Alzheimer's disease with a graffiti lover.
No Such Thing

Ali has not seen his father for 15 years. He rushes to his remote village with his family to say goodbye to his dying father. The hero, who had little contact with his father even as a child, is unable to say goodbye, but he does make it to the funeral. The hero, who suffers psychological shock from his father's death, confesses, undergoes catharsis, and becomes spiritually purified.
Knot
The story of a DJ who volunteers to go to the front during the Second Karabakh War.
Borc
A family of four lives in a remote village: a man, a woman, a teenage girl and a little boy. One day, an unexpected guest, a miserable-looking, middle-aged man comes to the family. Everything changes with his arrival. It turns out that the unexpected guest, the woman, is Mehman, her first husband, who has been in Armenian captivity for a long time. An ex-husband wants his wife and house back. The woman's current husband, Abdul, does not want to give up...
Nest

The period of dissolution of the parliament in the country is described. Former members of parliament are in chaos, they don't know what to do, how to live after this. He hopes that he will be able to overcome the financial crisis he is facing next...
Come to Your Senses

Years after the collapse of the Soviet Union… The hero of the film is an actor of the provincial theater. The chaotic mood of the time he lived in directly affected his character and mental state. He suffers from depression. The environment, loneliness oppress him, he is in a state of psychological shock. He also loves his counterpart in the theater, Leyla. However, he cannot express his feelings. There comes a moment when he says “it is necessary to end everything” and leaves.
Theatre Life

Young Ruslan rows for a team coached by his father Ali, who places many demands upon his son and is continually dissatisfied by his performance. But when tragedy strikes, his father is overcome with emotions he doesn’t know how to deal with. Debut director Asif Rustamov treats the heavy topic with remarkable subtlety and discretion, emphasizing the characters’ carefully elaborated psychology.
Down the River
The hero of the film is young Ali. He is beaten, called a coward... Even his close relatives call him a "little coward." To get rid of this nickname, he must prove his courage...
Back to Qiblah

1945. The women do the work in a remote village while the men are fighting the Nazis. A small group of deserters is hiding in the mountains and little Bahtiyar acts as the liaison between the men and the village.