Rustam Mammad Ibrahim oghlu Ibrahimbeyov (or Ibrahimbekov; ; ; 5 February 1939 – 11 March 2022) was a Soviet and Azerbaijani screenwriter, playwright, and producer, well known beyond his home Azerbaijan and the former Soviet Union. He was the chair of the Cinematographers' Union of Azerbaijan and director of the Ibrus Theatre.
Early life and education Rustam İbrahimbeyov was born in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, to Mammadibrahim Ibrahimbeyov and Fatima Meshadibeyova. His father was a professor of art history who hailed from Shamakhi. Ibragimbekov is the younger brother of Magsud Ibrahimbeyov, an Azerbaijani writer and politician.
İbrahimbeyov graduated from Azerbaijan Oil and Chemistry Institute, then studied script writing and film directing at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography in Moscow.
Film career His screenwriting credits include more than 40 film and television scripts, numerous plays and pieces of prose, and nearly all of his scripts were eventually made into full feature or TV films, including White Sun of the Desert (1970, Белое солнце пустыни), Interrogation (1979, Допрос), Guard Me, My Talisman (1986, Храни меня, мой талисман), Urga (Урга, Территория любви, 1991), Burnt by the Sun (1994, Утомлённые солнцем), The Barber of Siberia (1998, Сибирский цирюльник), East/West (1999), Broken Bridges (2004) and Nomad (2005/2007).
White Sun of the Desert (1969), for which he co-wrote the script with Valentin Yezhov, became a cult film in the USSR. From the 1970s, he collaborated with Nikita Mikhalkov. Urga, Territory of Love, directed by Mikhalkov and released in North America as Close to Eden, won the Golden Lion Award in the Venice Film Festival, as well as the Felix Award in Berlin as Best European Film. Close to Eden was nominated for an American Film Academy Award (Oscar) in 1995 as Best Foreign Language Film. Burnt by the Sun (directed by Mikhalkov) received an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1994 and the Grand Prize of the Jury at 47th Cannes International Film Festival; their film The Barber of Siberia was the most expensive European production of 1997. However, in 2008, he admitted having effectively stopped working with Mikhalkov due to political disagreements between them."A Country with No National Elite Has No Future", pravda.ru, 30 October 2010.
Ibragimbekov was co-screenwriter with Sergei Bodrov of French director Régis Wargnier's Oscar-nominated 1999 movie East/West.
Writing and theater work Ibragimbekov was a well-known writer. Several collected works were published in Russia, Azerbaijan and abroad. He also wrote over ten theater plays that were staged in numerous theaters. In 2001, Ibragimbekov founded Ibrus, a cultural center in Baku functioning as a theater where plays are acted in both Azerbaijani and Russian.Rustam Ibragimbekov to Open New Stage in Moscow, Trend.az, 12 November 2010.
Other roles In 1987, İbrahimbeyov was a member of the jury at the 15th Moscow International Film Festival.
He was the head of the awards jury at the inaugural Golden Minbar International Festival of Muslim Cinema in 2005.
Ibragimbekov was the chairman of the Confederation of Filmmakers' Unions (CFU), which represents filmmakers from all of the former Soviet republics, Secretary of the Russian Filmmakers' Union, and member of the European Film Academy and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Public activity and criticism In the late Soviet epoch, Ibrahimbeyov was a supporter of the Popular Front of Azerbaijan which called for democratic reforms and Azerbaijan's sovereignty. He signed petitions addressed to Kamran Baghirov and Ayaz Mutallibov in the aftermath of Black January (also known as Black Saturday or the January Massacre), was a violent crackdown in Baku on 19–20 January 1990, pursuant to a state of emergency during the dissolution of the Soviet Union when Soviet troops entered Baku and shot over 130 participants of a peaceful pro-Popular Front rally, bypassers, and medical personnel rushing to provide assistance.Rustam Ibragimbekov: The Government is Corrupt by the Silence of the People, radioazadlyg.org, 21 April 2012.
In 2009, Rustam Ibrahimbeyov became one of the founders of the Intelligentsia Forum, an Azerbaijani public organization that unites prominent scientists, writers, and journalists. The forum unanimously criticized the arrest of Azerbaijani bloggers Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizadeh accused of "hooliganism," and demanded the government release opposition journalist Eynulla Fatullayev imprisoned allegedly for defamation, encouraging terrorism, and drug possession.Rashad Rustamov. , zerkalo.az, 25 May 2012. He reportedly attended opposition rallies in Baku.Alexander Kasatkin. Govt Agreed to Let Rally Be Held, ekhokavkaza.com, 8 April 2012.
Ibrahimbeyov repeatedly criticized the 2009 constitutional amendment that lifted the two-term limit for the presidency in Azerbaijan, calling it "shameful". At the same time, he admitted seeing no real alternative to the current president, Ilham Aliyev. He openly appealed to Aliyev, asking to free the government of incompetent people he referred to as "cheats" who comprise the "core part of the system".Rustam Ibragimbekov Addressed to Ilham Aliyev, aydinliq.az, 8 January 2012.
Ibrahimbeyov's criticism targeted Azerbaijan's Ministry of Culture and Tourism for artificially creating obstacles in order to obliterate the initiative of the Cinematographers' Union of Azerbaijan (chaired by Ibrahimbeyov) to open and maintain the Higher School of Filmmaking in Baku. He accused the Head of the Presidential Administration, Ramiz Mehdiyev, and the Head of the Department of the Arts of the said administration, Fatma Abdullazadeh, of "doing everything possible" to obstruct cultural projects of the Union for the past ten years, namely the annual East/West International Film Festival or screenings of Azerbaijani films in rural parts of the country. According to Ibrahimbeyov, aspiring filmmakers have no opportunities of studying in Azerbaijan and can only hope to be state-funded to study abroad, if they bribe the appropriate officials.
Due to his public activity, the forum and namely İbrahimbeyov became subject to criticism from various government figures and members of the ruling party.Rashad Rustamov. Mercinary Spirit and Intelligentsia , zerkalo.az, 8 February 2012. He was unable to purchase land near the Martyrs' Lane due to legal issues involving the government and hence resorting to critical statements targeting state policy and government establishments such as SOCAR. Ibragimbekov refuted these claims by stating that SOCAR deliberately incurs in his private property in the Baku suburb of Bayil intending to install oil rigs there without having proper documentation.
In June 2012, an organization alternative to the Cinematographers' Union of Azerbaijan and named the Cinematographers' Union of the Republic of Azerbaijan was established, uniting many members of the former. The executive committee assessed Ibrahimbeyov's work as a union chair as "unsatisfactory".Cinematographers' Union of the Republic of Azerbaijan Established. APA. 21 June 2012. Ibrahimbeyov responded by stating that the establishment of the new union was orchestrated by the government due to his political activity and that should the new union with almost the same name and function be officially registered, the political nature of its creation would become obvious. He explained the creative problems experienced by the union he has chaired by the difficulties which the government had caused for its existence. Nevertheless, he expressed hope that the new union would engage in a productive activity.Nijat Samadoglu. "O Friends, How Great Our Union Is!" . Zerkalo. 22 June 2012. Ibragimbekov believed members of the new union may have been pressured by the government into speaking out against the union he chairs.Rustam Ibragimbekov: 'This is a Useless Step' . Radio Liberty. 23 June 2012.
In an interview to Azerbaijani media, Polish director Krzysztof Zanussi praised Ibrahimbeyov for his contribution to both Azerbaijani and world film. However, this particular part of the interview was censored out and not included in the official publication.Chingiz Sultansoy. Zanussi on Freedom of Speech and Rustam Ibragimbekov . Radio Liberty. 20 July 2012. Around the same time the head of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan Ali Hasanov attacked Ibrahimbeyov in the media, accusing him of fraud committed against businesspeople in Moscow. He also commented on the establishment of a new union, saying film making required "skilled people, as opposed to those who cannot do anything." He added that Ibrahimbeyov should not expect to be thanked by Azerbaijani society for "having directed a couple of movies or so."Ali Hasanov: 'It Is Ibragimbekov Who Is Unfortunate' . Radio Liberty. 21 July 2012. For these remarks, Hasanov himself came under the attack of Azerbaijani human rights activists. Chair of the Committee for the Protection of Women's Rights Novella Jafarova believes Hasanov must be made legally accountable according to the Azerbaijani law, which still considers libel a criminal offence but seems to be applied only against journalists. Chair of the Azerbaijan National Committee of Helsinki Citizens' Assembly Arzu Abdullayeva said Hasanov's words as those coming from the head of a social and political department are illogical. According to her, Ibrahimbeyov's reputation is impeccable in Azerbaijan, and he would not even react to this attack because he and Hasanov "are in different weight classes."Human Rights Activists: 'Ali Hasanov Must Be Held Liable'. Haqqin.az. 23 July 2012.
In July 2012, Russian writer of Azerbaijani descent Eduard Bagirov publicly renounced his membership with the Writers' Union of Azerbaijan and the All-Russia Azerbaijanii Congress as a form of protest against political repressions targeting Ibrahimbeyov in Azerbaijan.Eduard Bagirov. Farewell, My Azerbaijan!. Azerros. 30 July 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
In 2010, after the All-Russian Azerbaijani Congress (at the time, the leading Azerbaijani diaspora organization in Russia) implemented some structural changes, Ibrahimbeyov, who held Russian citizenship and had been one of the vice-presidents of the Congress, was demoted from his position. He later explained these changes by a directive coming from Baku. In 2012, Ibrahimbeyov declared the Congress a non-functioning entity and co-established the Union of Azerbaijani Organizations of Russia together with high-ranking Russian businessmen of Azerbaijani origin: Aras Agalarov (father of Ilham Aliyev's son-in-law Emin Agalarov), Vagit Alekperov, Telman Ismailov, Isgandar Khalilov, Abbas Abbasov, Soyun Sadikhov, and Ramazan Abdulatipov (originally Dagestani).Irina Cherkasova. Georgian Experienced Scared Baku. Birzhevoy Lider. 14 November 2012. This led to a new wave of criticism of Ibrahimbeyov on the part of state-sponsored media and accusations of him "being sympathetic to Armenians", "embezzling public funds"Yeni Azerbaijan Newspaper Condemned Ibragimbekov. Publika.az. 16 November 2012. and "having exhausted his talent as a director".Rustam Ibragimbekov Proved Failure. Kaspi. 16 November 2012. In addition, he was accused of pandering to Russia's interests in the region by fellow diaspora activists.Samira Patzer-Ismayilova. On Whose Side Are You, Rustam Ibragimbekov?. Vesti.az. 16 November 2012. Ibrahimbeyov claimed the Union was formed due to the inactivity of other diaspora organizations and has no political agenda.Rustam Ibragimbekov: Billionairas Cannot Be Controlled from Baku. Radio Liberty. 12 November 2012.
Legal issues