General Information
Completed On: 28 Apr, 2019
Duration: 2 hr 0 min 0 sec
Genres: Feature
Language: Azerbaijani
Country:
Submitted By: Shamil Aliyev
Festival Rating 8.0
THE CARPET
Synopsis
The script reveals the story of the Carpet, the theme of spiritualized Love, the fusion of human souls and the people’s inevitable need in each other. Samed is the main character of the story, who lost his hearing and eyesight. His difficult fate is reflected by the events taking place.
Samed is a painter and a carpet maker. He knows and remembers the long-forgotten patterns and secrets of creating one of the ancient Oghuz carpets. The wicked enemies made him blind and deaf in retaliation for not being able to learn all his secrets.
Nazli is the painter's wife, who becomes his ears and eyes, his only hope and joy. Samed had to suspend weaving the carpet, but he hopes to continue creating this unique carpet with the help of Nazli.
Despite the loss of vision, the drawing and the secret codes of the ancient carpet with the smallest details are preserved in the painter’s memory. Thus, thanks to Nazli, Samed can carry out his plan.
Suddenly, Nazli passes away, and Samed is left without his loyal soulmate, and with unfinished carpet.
Samed will never know about the death of his beloved. He does not see her buried or hear people’s mourning. Even when the whole village is going to bury Nazli, he is sitting in his yard without having any idea what is going on. Thus, Samed’s wife is buried without letting him know.
On long dark nights, the villagers hear the painter’s painful cries. Like a wounded beast, Samed wanders around the village, looking for and calling his soulmate.
Unable to remain indifferent to the painter’s sufferings, the council of elders make a decision to replace late Nazli with her cousin Suraya, who looks alike, and Samed’s life is re-settled. The painter continues to create his masterpiece with Suaraya’s help.
Soon does Suraya realize how absurd her state is. She no longer wants to live someone else's life. Suraya leaves Samed, and a half-woven carpet.
And again the village shudders at Samed’s cries while he is calling for his soulmate at night. This time, the council of elders replaces her with Yeter, a grass-widow of drunkard Ramiz.
But Yeter also leaves the painter, and the carpet remains unfinished again.
Samed loses his hope to return his dearest woman for the third time. The events that have taken place greatly worsen his health.
The villagers get impatient but they are no longer able to help the painter.
On one of the dark nights, Same suddenly jumps out of bed, approaches a frame with a stretched warp, and, despite his blindness, he finishes the carpet in an incredible, unthinkable way.
Then he lays the carpet on the floor and lays on it exhausted.
The door unexpectedly opens and Nazli’s spirit appears in the room. She comes up and lays down next to Samed. The painter who has been deprived of the happiness to see and hear his beloved for years, suddenly clearly sees and gently embraces her.
Nazli helps Samed get up, takes his hand and leads him away.
Waking up early in the morning, the villagers suddenly notice that the painter has gone.
Having gathered in Samed’s house, they are surprised to find a woven carpet hanging on the wall, but they still don’t find him.
The cemetery ...Samed is lying face down on Nazli’s grave… He is finally with his beloved for good…
Shamil Aliyev
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DirectorsShamil Aliyev
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ProducersShamil Aliyev
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Film TypeFeature
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GenresDrama
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Runtime2 hours 0 minutes 0 seconds
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Completion Date28 Apr, 2019
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Production Budget2 USD
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Country of Origin
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Country of FilmingAzerbaijan
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Film LanguageAzerbaijani
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Shooting Format35 MM
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Aspect Ratio1.1:89
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Film ColorColor
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Student ProjectNo
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First-time FilmmakerNo
Director's Biography
BIO-FILMOGRAPHY
Shamil Aliyev – screenwriter, producer, director
Shamil Aliyev was born on June 26 1960 in Baku, Azerbaijan. After graduating from Azerbaijan State Institute of Culture in
1989, he had worked as film director in “Azerbaijanfilm” state- owned movie studio. His first feature film “Confession” was shot independently.
As director he further worked on various national TV channels. Mr. Aliyev was an author and director of several projects on TV. Among them, “Film Media”, “Cinematography”, “Classicists and contemporaries” dedicated to such cinematographers as Alfred Hitchcock, K. Zanussi, Andrei Tarkovski and others.
In 1999 he shot his short fiction film “Occasional Meeting” (35mm).
2006-2007 He passed Master classes in the framework of the FOCAL IFA-SC program, at the screenwriter Claire Downs (Great Britain), Luciano Gloor (Switzerland).
Member of Jury of 5th NOIDA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (INDIA)
He is also a founder and director of NURFILM Producer Center
List of films:
1. “ETIRAF” (CONFESSION) - Feature fiction film, 35 MM, 83 min,
© 1992
2. “TESADUFI GORUSH” (OCCASIONAL MEETING) - short film, 35 MM,
26 min, © 1999.
3. “VETEN SERHEDDEN BASHLAYIR” (MOTHERLAND STARTS FROM THE BORDER) - documentary film, BETACAM, 30 min © 2004.
4. “BAL – ISTEDADLAR PLANETI” (Baku- European Lyceum – PLANET OF TALENTS) - documentary film, BETACAM, 30 min © 2005.
5. “AZERBAYCAN KHALCHASI” (AZERBAIJANI CARPET) – documentary film, BETACAM SP, 17 min © 2009
6. “IZ GALA” (TRACE OF GALA), documentary, HDV, 28 min 10 sec. ©
2010
7. “MUGAM, SPIRITUALS AND OTHERS”, documentary, HDV, 11 min © Salname, 2010
8. “FREE GHOSTS”, documentary, HDV, 20 min, © 2011
9. “CHOLCHU” (STEPPE MAN), feature fiction film, drama, “Azerbaycanfilm”, 35 MM, 80 min © 2012
10. MEMAR (ARCHITECT), HD, 43 min, © Salname, Azerbaijan Architect Union, 2018
Screening and Awards:
“ETIRAF” (CONFESSION):
VII International Film Festival in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan –Prize
& Diploma (1996)
XX International Film Festival in Cairo, Egypt (1996)
XIII International Film Festival in Tashkent, Uzbekistan (1997)
“TESADUFI GORUSH” (OCCASIONAL MEETING):
II Flagstaff International Film Festival (USA, 1999) – BRONZE AWARD
Ankara International Film Festival (2000)
XIII International Short Film Festival Clermont – Ferrand (2001) XXIX Algarve International Film Festival (2001)
VI Forum Festival Moscow, (2002)
Minsk International Film Festival - Listopad (2002) International Film Festival “Zolotoy Vityaz”, Russia (2003) “Golden Lamp”. National Cinematographic Award, Baku (2003) III “OFFensiva” Wroslaw International Film Festival, Poland
(2005)
Special Prize of V Youth International Short Film Festival
“Sesily”, Tbilisi, Georgia (2005)
“AZERBAYCAN KHALCHASI” (AZERBAIJAN CARPET)
Cannes de Festival – Short Film Corner (May 2009)
Day Ethnographic Cinema – Russia, Moscow (October –November
2009). Diploma awarded – “For the image of material culture”
5th Sardinia Film Festival, Italy (2010)
“The World of Knowledge”, 5th International Film Festival in
Sankt-Petersburg, Russia (01-05 November 2010)
“Kharkov-Seren” International Short Film Festival, Kharkov, May
2010
“IZ GALA” (TRACE OF GALA)
Cannes de Festival –Short Film Corner (May 2010) New York Short Film Festival (24-28 February 2011)
“Kharkov-Seren” International Short Film Festival, Kharkov ( May
2011)
Journalism Prize Award
VIII ALJAZEERA INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL, (DOHA – QATAR), 2012
Philadelphia Documentary & Fiction Festival (Philadelphia, June
30, 2012) Special Mention
“AZAD KABUSLAR» (FREE GHOSTS)
Asiana International Short Film Festival (2-7 November 2011)
Festival in which this film has already participated:
“ÇÖLÇÜ” (STEPPE MAN)
1.XXI “Kinoshok” Film Festival (Russia – Anapa, September 14-
22, 2012)
2.VIII Eurasia International Film Festival (Kazakhstan – Almaty,
2012)
3.V Didor International Film Festival (Tajikistan – Dushanbe, 2012)
Special Jury Diploma – “For Fairytale Reality”
4.XVI Black Nights International Film Festival (Estonia
– Tallinn, 2012)
5.35th Cairo International Film Festival (Egypt- Cairo, 2012)
6.13th Tbilisi International Film Festival (Georgia – Tbilisi, 2012)
7.XXIV Ankara International film Festival (Turkey –Ankara, March 14-24, 2013)
8.XXII International Film Festival “Golden Knight (Russia
– Khabarovsk. May 21-31, 2013,)
9.HUMAY – XXIII, National Awards (BEST FILM), May 2013
10.IX Kazan International Festival of Muslim Cinema, (Russia
– Tatarstan, September 5-11, 2013)
11.XIV International Telekinoforuma "TOGETHER", (YALTA
–
UKRAINE, 5-11 September,2013), The movie "Steppe man",
"Azerbaijanfilm", Baku, Azerbaijan, - "For creative research."
12.62th International Film Festival Mannheim- Heidelberg
(Germany, 31 October – 10 November, 2013)
13.IV Malatya International Film Festival (Turkey, Malatya,
15- 21 November, 2013)
14.13th Dhaka International Film Festival (Dhaka, Bangladesh, January 10 – 18, 2014)
15.42th International film festival FEST (Belgrade,
28th February till 9th of March)
16. Long Lıst of Best Foreign Language Film 86th Oskar Awards
17. V Cinema Mundi International Film Festival, 20.02 -02.03. 2014, Brno, Czech Republic
18. 15th Rainbow Film Festival, from Sunday 25 May to 1
June 2014, London, UK
Awarded "Best Feature Film"
19. 3rd Madrid International Film festival 2014 (11 -19
July, 2014, Madrid – Spain)
20. Salento Beynəlxalq Film Festivalı (21-28 JUNE,
2014, Tricase, ITALY)
21. «FRIENDS’MOVIE » INTERNATIONAL FILM FORUM (September 21-25 Moscow, Russia)
22. «INDIAN CINE FILM FESTIVAL- 2014. 27 September, Lonavala, Mumbai-Pune (INDIA)
23. «INTERNATIONAL MOVIE AWARDS - 2014», 24th September,
Jakarta, Indonesia
24. 3. Van Lake International Film Festival, 23-29 september
2014, Van, Turkey
3. Uluslararası Van Gölü Film Festivalı, 23-29 sentyabr, 2014. Van, Türkiyə
İNCİ KEFALI ÖDÜLÜ / PEARL MULLET AWARD
EN İYİ CİNEMA FİLMİ –ÇÖLÇÜ / BEST FEATURE FILM – STEPPE MAN EN İYİ YÖNETMEN – ŞAMİL ƏLİYEV (ÇÖLÇÜ)/ BEST DIRECTOR – SHAMIL ALIYEV (STEPPE MAN)
EN İYİ SSENARYO – VİDADİ HASANOV (ÇÖLÇÜ)/ BEST SCREENWRITER
– VIDADI HASANOV (STEPPE MAN)
EN İYİ KADIN OYUNÇU – SALOME DEMURİA (ÇÖLÇÜ) / BEST
ACTRESS (STEPPE MAN)
25. AKBUZAT INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL of NATIONAL and ETHNIC FILMS, 27-29 November, UFA, (BASHKORTOSTAN – RUSSIA, 2014)
26. II NOIDA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL -2015, (INDIA – DELHI. 14 FEBRUARY 2015) BEST DIRECTOR – JURY, SHAMIL ALIYEV
27. IX BYRON BAY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, (AUSTRALIA
- BYRON BAY, 6-9 MARCH, 2015)
28. WORLD FILM AWARDS -2015 (INDONESIA, JAKARTA. 4-19 June,
2015)
“GOLDEN WORLD AWARDS 2015”, Steppe man, directed by Shamil
Aliyev - International film
29. BUCHAREST BLACK SEA ART FESTIVAL (19-25 MAY) Bucharest
– Romania
30. CALCUTTA INTERNATIONAL CULT FILM FESTIVAL (INDIA), Month March 2017, BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE FILM (ƏN YAXŞI BƏDİİ FİLM)
NOMINATED GOLDEN FOX AWARD
31. "CayFilm" Cayman Islands International Film Festival
(USA, 30 June-03 July, NOMINATED GREAT CAYMAN 2017
32. ALANYA “KRYSTAL CASTLE” INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (TURKEY, 01-09 MAY, 2017)
33. CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL ARTHOUSE FILM FESTIVAL BLOWUOP FILM FEST – 2017, OFFICIAL SELECTION
34. CALCUTTA INTERNATIONAL CULT FILM FESTIVAL (INDIA, 2017,
GOLDEN FOX AWARD - BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE FILM
35. THE MOVIE AWARDS GODDESS NIKE FILM FESTIVAL. ANNUAL EDITION 2017. OFFICIAL SELECTION
36. CULT CRITIC MOVIE AWARDS. 2018 January Monthly. Kolkata (INDIA)
BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE FILM
37. 6th VIRGIN SPRING CINEFEST. 2018 February Monthly
BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE FILM (KOLKATA, INDIA)
38. CULT CRITIC MOVIE AWARDS 2018. (KOLKATA, INDIA)
JEAN LUK GODARD AWARDS (Best Feature Film)
39. CINE AUTOR 2018 (SPAIN)
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
40. VIRGIN SPRING CINEFEST
GOLDEN GALAXY AWARD 2018
Narrative Feature (Kolkata, INDIA 29 November 2018)
41. WORLDFILM FESTIVAL 2018 (1-31 December)
FEATURE DRAMA WINNER - Steppe Man
42. Italiano- Azerbaijan International Film Festival (Azerbaijan – Baku, 25-30 january 2019)
43. L’Age d’Or International Arthouse Film Festival (LIAFF), 2019 January monthly
BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE / Лучший Художественный фильм («Степняк»),
BEST DIRECTOR / Лучший режиссер (Шамиль Алиев),
Best actress / Лучшая актриса (Саломе Демуриа),
Best supporting acter / Лучший актер второго плана (Видади Гасанов)
44. CROWN WOOD INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2019
January Monthly
BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE / Лучший Художественный фильм
BEST DIRECTOR / Лучший режиссер (Шамиль Алиев)
45. Dumbo Film Festival 2019 (USA)
OFFICIAL SELECTION
46. Oniros Film Awards 2019, Monthly Edition (May)
OFFICIAL SELECTION – Best Director
47. Oniros Film Awards 2019, Monthly Edition (Italy)
Best Feature Film
48. Accolade Global Film Competition 2019 (USA)
WINNER – AWARD OF MERIT SPECIAL MENTION
49. Florence Film Awards 2019 (Italy)
Best Feature Film
50. Depth of Field International Film Festival 2019 (USA)
Exceptional Merit
51. Near Nazareth Festival 2019
Best Actors, Director Shamil Aliyev
52. Mahul Wood International Film Festival 2019 (Monthly Edition)
Best Narrative Feature Film
53. European Screen Awards 2019 (Indonezia)
Best Feature Film – Platinium Award
54. ROYAL WOLF FILM AWARDS 2019 (USA, Los-Angeles)
BEST FOREİGN FEATURE – June 2019
55. ONIROS FILM AWARDS 2019 – May Monthly
BEST FEATURE FILM – STEPPE MAN (Director Shamil)
FINALIST – BEST DIRECTOR Shamil Aliyev
56. ONIROS FILM AWARDS 2019
FINALIST – Best of Year
57. TAGORE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL - 2019 MAY
BEST FEATURE NARRATIVE FILM
58. WHITE UNICORN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL – July-August 2019
Steppe Man – Best Foreign Language Feature Film
59. NEAR NAZARETH FESTIVAL 2019 (7 SEASON, 2-5 December)
Best Feature Film, Director Shamil Aliyev
60. TRIPVILL INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2019
BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE / AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
61. 1st ANNUAL CROWN WOOD INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2020
BEST FEATURE NARRATIVE – STEPPE MAN
BEST DIRECTOR – SHAMIL ALIYEV
62. L’Age d’Or International Art-house Film Festival (LIAFF)
Nominee – Best Feature Film Festival
Nominee – Best Director
Nominee – Best Supporting Actor
Nominee – Best Actress
63. Mindfield Film Festival – Albuqerque 2020
Award Winner – Best Narrative Feature
Award Winner – Best Director
64. New York Movie Awards 2020 – February Monthly
HONORABLE MENTION
65. Košice International Monthly Film Festival (KIMFF) 2020
Official selection
Director's Statement
Director’s statement
The Carpet
The script of the feature film “The Carpet” is about the lack of interpersonal communication in modern society, in which simple human values, unfortunately, degrade. A few centuries ago, The Book of Ecclesiastes said: “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help.” The protagonist of “The Carpet”, the deaf and blind Samed is and ample evidence of that. Metaphorically, he is the one who fell. Samed is deaf and blind. He lived, just like everyone else, when the time came, he married and built up a family. But as a result of misfortune, Samed lost the ability to see and hear for good. And this is truly a great tragedy for a painter who knows all the secrets of creating the most ancient carpet, and who has to keep them in the treasury of his memory.
We believe we know ourselves, but we do not know what we can become. In other words, we do not know what we will do, how we will behave in a particular extreme situation. Each of us has our own comfort zone, and having lost it, having gone beyond its usual boundaries once, sometimes it turns out to be so difficult to remain the same person, loyal to his own principles and beliefs.
Since, there always should be the one who would stay near the fallen one and give a hand to rise again. Not a single culture, religion, or customs should allow a person to be left alone face to-face with a trouble. Otherwise, it will bring the era of anthropological disaster. And if required, centuries-old misperceptions must be reconsidered in the name of a Human.
Log- line
Carpet is the material and symbolic memory of spiritualized Love. Neither carpet nor Love endures betrayal.
Plot-line
Samed is a blind and deaf painter and a carpet maker, whose wife passes away.
In order to save the painter from starvation, the devastated village replaces his deceased beloved with one, and later with another woman.
But soon these women have to leave Samed.
What will rescue the painter?
