― 23 января 2024 г.

90th Anniversary of the Birthday of the Famous Azerbaijani Cinema Director Rasim Ocagov

A commemorative event dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the birthday of the famous director Rasim Ocagov, who left deep traces in Azerbaijani cinema art, was held in Ankara.

The event held at the National Library in Ankara gathered the Deputy Secretary General of TURKSOY Sayit Yusuf, the Director General of Libraries and Publications of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Türkiye Taner Beyoğlu, the Counsellor of the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Ankara Eldar Aliyev, the Head of the Department of Cinema of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan Rashad Gasımov, Rasim Ocagov's daughter Kemale Ocagova, the leading actors of the film "Tahmine", the  famous Azerbaijani actor Fahreddin Manafov and the Turkish actress Meral Konrad along with the second director of the film Zafer Murtuzov.

The event started with the opening of the exhibition featuring photographs from Rasim Ocagov's life and cinema works in the Exhibition Hall of the National Library. In his speech, Deputy Secretary General Sayit Yusuf noted that the presence of talented artists, writers, film makers, theatre actors and directors of the Turkic World, whose fame reach out beyond our borders, is a great source of  pride  and added that the Turkic World is very rich and strong in this respect. Mr. Yusuf further noted that TURKSOY was established to introduce this important cultural richness to the world, pursues its activities  aiming at this  promotion and that they have come together today in yet another event  to present these outstanding personalities and their legacy to our own peoples and young generations. Emphasising that today they commemorate Rasim Ocagov, one of the most important film directors of the Turkic World, who started working during  the Soviet Era and pursued his activities during the years of independence, on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of his birthday, Mr. Yusuf further said that  it is a pleasure for TURKSOY to commemorate  and promote this important figure who is one of the symbols of the Azerbaijani art of cinema. Mr. Yusuf concluded his speech expressing his gratitude to those who contributed to the organisation of the event.

In his speech, Rashad Gasymov stated that  the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan attaches particular importance to the rapprochement of the art of cinema  in Türkiye and Azerbaijan and added that they therefore support activities carried out in this respect, also stressing the fact that  Rasim Ocagov made an important contribution to this rapprochement with the films he shot years ago. Mr. Gasymov who further noted that Rasim Ocagov's films were neither sent to other countries nor shown anywhere else in the world, despite the fact that they had received  all the awards that could possibly be received in the field of cinema during the Soviet Era further stressed his pride about the fact that Ocagov's films are shown in  Türkiye, the kindred country of Azerbaijan today. Mr. Gasymov concluded saying  that Ocagov had been attaching great importance to ties of Azerbaijan with Turkey since 1993 when he shot the film "Tahmine" and that  Türkiye was therefore always part of his films in thematic terms.

Mr. Taner Beyoğlu, the Director General of Libraries and Publications, wished success in  efforts to promote outstanding personalities of the Turkic World and expressed his pleasure to host the event on the famous Azerbaijani film director Rasim Ocagov at the National Library.

The director's daughter Kemale Ocagova emphasised that her father had visited Türkiye during the Soviet Era and was very impressed by this visit, noting that the films he made after the independence of Azerbaijan always stood in  connection with Türkiye. Mrs.  Ocagova expressed her gratitude  as to  the commemoration of Rasim Ocagov on the 90th anniversary of his birthday, which was not forgotten by his brothers and sisters from Türkiye.

The event started with the opening of the exhibition of Rasim Ocagov's photographs, followed by a short documentary film about the director's works and the film "Tahmine".  The leading actors of the film "Tahmine", the Azerbaijani actor Fahreddin Manafov, the actress Meral Konrad and the second director of the film Zafer Murtuzov who took the floor at the event  touched upon the life and work of Rasim Ocagov and his important contribution  to the art of cinema as well as  his role in the promotion of Azerbaijani culture and  the importance he attached to the training of young artists. 

The  speeches were followed by a ceremony in which Mr.  Sayit Yusuf handed over plaquettes of TURKSOY to the participants  on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the birthday of Rasim Ocagov.

After a group photograph was  taken as a remembrance of the day, the film "Tahmine" directed by  Rasim Ocagov was shown to  cinema lovers from Ankara.