Maria Smolnikova: "Baku is modern, bright and beautiful city"

A presentation of the Russian-Azerbaijani comedy ‘Kilimanjara’ was held in the Hermitage Garden yesterday. The film was created by Alexander Tsekalo’s SREDA Production Company together with Tahir Imanov, Jabir Imanov, Farid Alizade and Ismail Safarali. One of the lead actresses, theater and film actress Maria Smolnikova, speaking with Vestnik Kavkaza on the sidelines of the event, told about the shooting, Baku and her Baku childhood.

- First of all, please tell us about character in the film - what is she like?

- My heroine is a "family woman", she has two kids. At the beginning of the film, she decides to escape from the family routine and hang out, revive her youth, but she does not succeed in it, and in the end, I think she understands a lot about herself and her friendship.

- Did Baku help you during the filming?

- Yes, Baku helped me, although it was pretty hot during the filming. I remember that I lived in this city when I was a child, and it was like going back in time for me. I wanted to go back there, and now my dream came true.

- What does Baku mean to you?

- I was born in Sverdlovsk, but when I was around two years old, me, my mother and sister left for Azerbaijan and lived there in a military town near Baku. When the Soviet Union collapsed, we had to go back to Sverdlovsk, since the shooting started, and we were taken from Baku on the aircraft with military equipment.

- How did you feel when you came back to the city? What do you think about modern Baku?

- I thought Baku would be less accurate, more like Georgian cities. But it turned out that it was modern, bright and really beautiful, that Baku is worth visiting, that it is interesting to walk in the center, in the old town.

- Would you like to visit Baku again?

- Of course, I would like to return to Baku someday, maybe as a tourist. We did not have much time to walk because of the shooting and the heat, while we were working on the film.