In September, one of the largest publicly attended film festivals - Toronto International Film Festival - presented a biographical film about the life of Heydar Aliyev. "We have started to promote a biopic about Heydar Aliyev, a man with a very interesting life, that was just begging to be a film, at the Toronto Film Festival. Filming has been completed, and now the film is in the post-production phase, we are finishing its mounting. The film will be released in 2017," the film's producer Igor Lopatenok said. According to him, in addition to the film the Russian viewers will also see the eight-part series.
The producer refused to disclose the male lead's name. The actor Victor Suhoroukov also did not reveal the secret. "The actor, who plays a major role, looks just like Aliyev! Now they are looking for an appropriate voice," Suhoroukov told the Izvestia newspaper. He is playing the head of internal affairs and national security of the Azerbaijan SSR, Major-General Stepan Yemelianov, who was dismissed from his post in 1953 after the downfall of Lavrenty Beria and Mir Jafar Bagirov, transferred to the reserve "on the facts of discrediting" and in a few months arrested. On April 26, 1954, Yemelianov was sentenced to 25 years in prison by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR, but in 1970 was released from the camp in Mordovian ASSR, but was not rehabilitated.
"The other day I will fly to Baku to dub my character - General Yemelianov. The chairman of the Azerbaijani KGB under Baghirov, the first secretary of the Communist Party of the Azerbaijan SSR. The great scenario. My character will be jailed for 25 years, and 16 years later he will be released from prison, will start asking Aliyev to help him. Yemelianov before going to prison, and after it is two different people. A general with a strong and powerful personality - and then after a breakdown, he became withered and frayed man, a plant in herbarium. I took the job because of this difference. Two years of filming, it felt like it was never going to end. Director Fataliyev works meticulously and painstakingly, almost like German," Suhoroukov said.
The film director, screenwriter, holder of the Shohrat order, Ramiz Mammadali oglu Fataliyev, known for his attention to details, because his first education was technical. First Fataliyev graduated from the Azerbaijan Institute of Petroleum and Chemical Industry, after which he entered the Higher Courses for Scriptwriters and directors at VGIK. As a screenwriter, he has worked on more than three dozens films, including 'The Scoundrel', 'Without Witness', 'The Sixth'. Among Ramiz Fataliyev's recent films are television series 'The moment of truth' (Azerbaijan) and 'Graf Krestovsky' (Russia).
Fataliyev asked not to disclose the name of the actor who will be Heydar Aliyev's 'voice' in the film: "He is already working, and much remains to be done for him, because he will dub the dialogue in Russian and Azerbaijani languages. We do not want to bother him".
Heydar Aliyev is played by five actors who will be rotated depending on the period of the hero's life - at the age of three, seven and twelve, as a teenager and adult. The most important task rests on the shoulders of the actor Alexander Nikitin, known to the Russian audience for series 'Soldiers' and ' The Closed School'. For today, the actor's filmography includes nearly fifty roles of different genres - from comedy to historical and criminal ones. Critics call him "a charming man with warm eyes", which immediately fascinates the audience. However, certainly it is not easy to play Heydar Aliyev's natural charm.
"I am honored to play Heydar Aliyev - a legendary personality, known to the whole world. When they called me to Moscow for the first time and invited to the shooting, I was excited, but did not expect that I will get the main role," the actor said.
Meanwhile, all the project participants refuse to disclose details of both the script and the shooting process. The working title of the project is 'The simplest surname'. In addition to these Russian actors, Sergei Garmash and Alena Babenko starred in the film.
