Gurban Ismailov

A drama about a film crew making a movie in an isolated mountain town famous for its ancient fortress, and what happens when the town is threatened by a modern-day foreign invasion.

The film anthology includes 10 short films: "Asia", "Meeting", "Artist", "Yard", "Bahram Gur", "Lottery Ticket", "Caspian Atlantis", "About love", "Aysel" and "Coincidence". Each screenplay in the project reflects different moments in the life of Baku. Short films bring to life relationships between people, their love and longing, happy and sad moments. The main hero uniting these people, relations and different moments of life is the city of Baku.

Seymour Tahirbekov is an international chess grandmaster from Azerbaijan. Having won the Candidates Tournament, Seymour earns the right to challenge the defending world champion Skroten Gudmonson in the World Chess Championship match. With a few weeks left before the championship match, Seymour’s psychological and emotional state deteriorates under escalating abuse and pressure to succeed by any means.

August 1922. An American journalist, Jerry Thompson, travels to the Soviet Union and arrives in Azerbaijan. He visits the settlement of Mardakan in Baku. There, he meets an elderly man at a villa. Thompson can hardly believe what he hears. Standing before him is Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev, a once-great oil producer, millionaire, and philanthropist who lost all his wealth after the establishment of Soviet rule. Haji recounts his life story to the guest, a journey that saw him rise from a humble mason to an influential oil industrialist.

In a final attempt to find the truth behind his beloved cousin's death, Jafar decides to face the person who is likely to tell him all. But the cost of it might be too high.

The main storyline is built around a one-hundred-manat banknote. As the banknote passes from hand to hand, it continually changes owners, but in the end, in an unexpected twist, it belongs to no one. Those who come into possession of it represent different social classes and professions—among them a traffic police officer, a singer, a fortune-teller, a mullah, and others. Thus, the 100-manat note changes hands in various ways… and all these exchanges are accompanied by comic events.

Muslim prince Ali and Georgian aristocrat Nino have grown up in the Russian province of Azerbaijan. Their tragic love story sees the outbreak of the First World War and the world’s struggle for Baku’s oil. Ultimately they must choose to fight for their country’s independence or for each other.

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.

Miras (Heritage) looks at the activities of the Nobel Brothers in the oil industry of Azerbaijan, one of the world’s oldest oil producers. After founding the first foreign company in the city of Baku at the end of the 19th century, the Nobel brothers name was glorified; yet few people know about the deep connection of the Nobel Prizes with Baku’s oil.

The film is dedicated to people who lost their homes as a result of the war and live with longing for their homeland. Inspired by real events.

The events depicted in the film embody the spirit, determination, and self-sacrifice of a generation that stood up to defend the Homeland, as exemplified by the special forces. At the center of the plot stand Special Forces officer Rashad Khalilov, Zeynep Ozdemir—a Turkish orthopedic surgeon working in Azerbaijan—and Colonel Ramazan Karimov, commander of the special operations group.

The film is about the inner suffering and conflictions of Yavar, father of a soldier, who can't give the news of his son's death in the war to his heart-sick wife.

The feature documentary film dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. The film highlights the events that took place on the last days of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic.

An Azerbaijanian veteran of battle for Brest fortress takes gun again 50 years later - to defend Nagorny Karabakh from Armenians.

In the autumn of 1888, Baku is preparing for the visit of His Majesty Alexander III. Millionaire and member of the Baku City Duma, Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev, is fighting for influence and status in society. The city mayor, Orlovsky, taking advantage of his position, seeks to seize the oil field of Teymurbekov, who has committed suicide. Meanwhile, Ismail, the eldest son of Haji, meets General’s daughter, Nurjahan Arablinskaya, and intends to marry her.

The film tells the heartwarming tale of Ilgar Suleymanov, a former Olympic medalist who has settled into a quiet life in his hometown. Despite having close friends and a love for fishing, Ilgar is haunted by his loneliness and lack of direction. However, when an unexpected visitor arrives at his doorstep, Ilgar's life takes an exciting and unexpected turn, leading him on a journey that will take him from Azerbaijan to the distant shores of Cuba. This poignant and uplifting film explores the universal themes of friendship, love, and the search for meaning in a touching and unforgettable way.

Samir is an amateur filmmaker. Along with his despotic father and older sister Roza he resides in “Shanghai”, a slum located in close proximity to downtown Baku, the capital of the oil rich Republic of Azerbaijan. By sheer accident, Samir captures a video of Roza getting intimate with her boyfriend.

Fuad is an employee of the criminal investigation department, and Anar is a musician who strives to win the love of the audience. Friends who have shared every joy and sorrow with each other since childhood are now unable to divide the love of the beautiful and successful Deniz between them. Their friendship has already passed such a test. So what will happen this time? A story as old as the world, but always relevant... It seems that they have no idea about the world...

Umid, the internally displaced person (IDP) due to War, loses the set of keys belonging to his house which is currently under occupation. The keys represent the last hope to come back to his house, so Umid still hopes he will be back one day but the accident bears a strong symbolic meaning to him. He interprets it as losing the last hope.

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.

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.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s the Armenian minority in Nagorono-Karabakh attempted to break away from Azerbaijan, one of the former Soviet republics. Overnight these former neighbors became enemies, and simple village folk were suddenly made hostages in a complex power game. One of the Azerbaijani villages right on the border is home to the family of the peasant farmer Kerim, who has just been captured by the Armenians. The village council decides to take an Armenian in order to arrange a hostage exchange. They imprison the wounded man in the barn next to Kerim's house, where his wife and three children desperately await the husband's return. The captive from the other side of the border finds himself in exactly the same situation - he, too, has three children, he finds it hard to scrape a living together, he has never done anything to harm anyone and, like Kerim, he just wants to go back home. But life in Karabakh is far more complex now. Blood calls for blood.

Before his death, the jeweler wrote a will in which he mentioned the famous diamond "Abbas Shah." But when the heirs discovered his personal safe, the diamond was not there. Without hesitation, they turned for help to the detective Drongo, who, as everyone knows, is able to unravel the most mysterious thing. The detective immediately established a circle of suspects and began to screen out those who had an iron alibi. But suddenly his list began to decline for a completely different reason - someone began to kill the suspects one by one...

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.