Azernews.Az

By Laman Ismayilova

The Russian House in Baku has filmed a documentary dedicated to the centenary of the Azerbaijan State Academic Russian Drama Theater named after Samad Vurgun. The film director is Rustam Huseynov.

The 100 years of the history of the Azerbaijan State Academic Russian Drama Theater is a glorious symbiosis of the creativity of several generations of the theatrical collective and the huge audience love of Baku population. This is the memory of talented actors and directors, original productions that are still alive in the memory of Baku residents.

The official opening date of the theater is December 20, 1920. Over the century of its activity, the theater has repeatedly changed its names, but has retained its unique spirit and is now a legendary theater venue, inseparable from the culture and history of Baku.

The full-length, almost an hour and a half documentary tells us in detail about the circumstances of the emergence and development of the theater, factors and events that made the theater a cultural phenomenon of Baku and its impact on city life.

Special attention is paid to the role of creative personalities in the history of the theater, their relations with the collective, today's ties of the theater with international theatrical life and productions that amazed not only Baku residents.

The film shows a number of little-known facts from theatrical life; it uses a unique archival chronicle, recordings of performances with the participation of theatrical stage legends, rare photographs, personal documents, programs and reviews of performances of half a century and a century ago. Important strokes in the history of the theater and individual productions are revealed in detail.

Particular attention in the film is devoted to the details of the biographies of major theatrical figures associated with the history of the Azerbaijan State Academic Russian Drama Theater named after Samad Vurgun.

The film features recordings of performances and photographs with Vladimir Schweitzer, Faina Ranevskaya, Sergei Mayorov, Mehdi Mammadov, Nazim Hikmet, Maharram Ashumov, Guljahan Gulakhmedova-Martynova, Anatoly Falkovich and others.

The documentary presents a retrospective of the theater's activities over a century: from small theater to a modern academic theater venue.

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