Elchin Musaoglu

Early life

Although Musaoglu's father, Musa Guliyev, was a professor of historical sciences, Musaoglu spent his youth in the villages of Azerbaijan where he made theatrical performances with other youths often accepting fruit in lieu of payment. His favorite performance was the operetta Arshin Mal Alan by Uzeyir Hajibeyov.

In 1983, aged 17, Elchin entered the Azerbaijan State Institute of Arts and Culture in the faculty of theatre directors. As soon as he completed the 2nd course he was drafted to the Soviet Army in Ukraine, where he spent two years. After coming back from the army he continued his education both in Azerbaijan and Moscow. The last year of university he spent at the Lunacharsky State Institute for Theatre Arts in the workshop of Mark Zakharov.

In 1990 he was hired by Azerbaijanfilm as an assistant film director. The first film he produced was Leyli and Majnun based on the poem by Nizami Ganjavi (1990). He worked in Azertelefilm from 1994 to 2004 as a film director and produced more than 50 documentaries and short films.

In 2004 he established RITM Production Company together with his co-workers. The company produced documentaries, short films and The 40th Door, which was the first full-length feature film in the history of RITM Production Company as well as the film director and script writer Elchin Musaoglu.

Peter Debruge from Variety said: "'The 40th Door' is no Hollywood-style rags-to-riches tale, offering instead a stripped-down neorealist fable in the vein of Vittorio De Sica and the strong Iranian films of a decade ago. There may be something overly familiar about such stories by now, and yet this one feels fresh and free from cliche, a touching portrait with the potential for modest arthouse returns.”

Musaoglu's 2014 film Nabat was Azerbaijan's hope for an Oscar nomination in 2015

Filmography (major films)

Glass Toys

The 40th Door

NABAT

Festivals:

Awards