Asif Rustamov’s film “Cold As Marble” has been screened in
Russia.

The film won Best Screenplay Award at the 7th International
Arctic Open Film Festival held in Arkhangelsk, Azernews reports.

Arctic Open screens local and international professional or
first-time filmmakers, celebrating the best in Arctic-related
filmmaking from across the globe.

With 15 nominations within 4 categories, the festival aims to
select and promote the best films made in 2022-2023 domestically
and globally; provide filmmakers with the opportunity to interact
with audiences at Q&A sessions, screenings, and social events
and much more.

Note that “Cold As Marble” is co-produced by Azerbaijan
(Azərbaycanfilm, ITV, Baku Media Center) and France (Arizona
Films).

The film tells the story of a man (actor Elshan Asgarov), who is
actually a failed artist, potentially owing to his blindness in one
eye, so he has to work as a gravestone engraver, specialising in
portraits of the deceased. Another peculiar thing about him is his
habit of avoiding the bedroom in his modest house, even when his
married girlfriend (Natavan Abbasli) visits him.

His routine changes one day when he finds an unexpected visitor
who has broken into the house – his own father (Gurban Ismayilov,
the winner of the Best Actor Award at the festival), who is
supposed to be serving a prison sentence. The dad keeps berating
the son, shouting homophobic slurs at him and trying to steer his
life to bring it more into line with his own hustle schemes.

However, unlike other people, the son knows his father’s dark
secret and why he was imprisoned in the first place, and the
girlfriend may have a scheme of her own that can be brought to
fruition only with the help of a criminal. It seems that tragedy
might repeat itself in yet another cycle.

The main producer of the film is Arzu Aliyeva, and the
screenwriters are Asif Rustamov and his Dutch colleague Roelof Jan
Minneboo. director Asif Rustamov, production operators Oktay
Namazov and Adil Abbasov, and production designer Rafig
Nasirov.

The producers are Fariz Ahmadov, Orman Aliyev, and Guillaume de
Seille, and the creative producer is Irada Bagirzade. Elshan
Asgarov, Natavan Abbasli, and People’s Artist Gurban Ismayilov
co-starred in the movie.

“Cold As Marble” is Asif Rustamov’s second full-length work. The
cinematic work had its world premiere in November 2022 at the POFF
Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, where it was awarded in the
category of Best Actor (Gurban Ismayilov). Besides, the movie was
awarded Best Director (Asif Rustamov) at the 16th Eurasia
International Film Festival in Almaty and the main prize of the
jury at the 29th International Festival of Asian Films (Festival
International des Cinémas d’Asie) held in Vesoul, France.

In November, the film was awarded the Best Actor Award and the
Grand Prix at Moscow Premiere International Film Festival. At the
same time, the screenwork won the Golden Hedgehog,” the main award
of film critics.

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