Monument to scriptwriter of “White Sun of the Desert” Ibragimbekov erected in Baku

The author of the monument is Aydin Zeynalov

A year after the death of an outstanding person, playwright, director, writer and producer Rustam Ibragimbekov, a tombstone was erected in his homeland in Baku. It says that life is defeat.

The author of scripts written for such well-known films as “The White Sun of the Desert” (together with Valentin Yezhov) by Vladimir Motyl, “Keep me, my talisman” by Roman Balayan, “East-West” by the French director Régis Varnier, “Urga. Territory of Love”, “The Barber of Siberia”, “Burnt by the Sun” by Nikita Mikhalkov, “Nomad” by Sergei Bodrov Sr., lived most of his life in Moscow, and was born in Azerbaijan. His parents, brother and writer Maksud Ibragimbekov are buried in Baku, so after the farewell ceremony in Moscow, his body was sent to his homeland.

In Baku, Ibragimbekov graduated from the Institute of Oil and Chemistry, worked for several years at the Academy of Sciences of the Azerbaijan SSR. And he came to Moscow to enter the Higher Courses for Scriptwriters and Directors and stayed for many years. He worked on major international projects with the participation of filmmakers from different continents and cultures, did a lot to ensure that the connection between times did not fall apart, and the filmmakers of the collapsed USSR did not lose each other. This was the aim of his activities in the Confederation of Unions of Cinematographers of the CIS and Baltic States, at the Moscow Forum of National Cinematographers, at the international film school for young directors and screenwriters from the CIS and Baltic countries. For the sake of universal unity, he established the international award “East-West. Golden Arch.

The author of the monument erected in the First Alley of Honor, Academician of the Russian Academy of Arts and the Florentine Academy of Arts, sculptor Aidyn Zeynalov, worked closely with Rustam’s daughter, actress and screenwriter Fatima Ibragimbekova. They wanted to create something unusual, creative. The monument turned out to be extremely successful, which cannot be said about many others erected to Ibragimbekov’s colleagues in Moscow. It is made of bronze. This is Rustam’s face without frames, as the sculptor says. It was important to show that Ibragimbekov formed the space around him. And so it happened. Face to light. You look through it, through the frame of your glasses, and you see the colors of the world, the greenery of the trees, since Baku is sunny and warm. Hands support face. There is also a piece of paper with the words of Rustam in Azerbaijani, which are repeated in Russian on the tombstone: “Let any life be a defeat, since it ends in death, but the ability to accept life and rejoice is a great talent…”. Rustam Ibragimbekov repeatedly repeated this phrase in different variations in interviews and in his memoirs “Successful Defeat”, where he ponders what to do so that the defeat is not so fatal. It was strange to hear the phrase that life is a defeat from such a vital person as Ibragimbekov was, but he wisely explained its meaning and convinced that he was right.

According to Fatima Ibragimbekova, the idea of ​​the monument is that we look at the world through the prism of the philosophy and thoughts of the writer, artist, creative person. Rustam’s son, director and screenwriter Fuad Ibragimbekov believes that a face with a gap should be perceived as a symbol of a person and the Universe surrounding him.

Rustam Ibragimbekov was powerful and independent and encouraged others to live according to their own ideas of good and evil. He believed that the Almighty determines the road, but we choose the sidewalk.