World premiere
Cold as Marble
Are you a painter or a sculptor?
Non-healed wounds, lusty desires and scheming betrayal, unleashed in an erotic, ironic and captivatingly puzzling modern Azerbaijani psycho thriller. Unlike the impressive debut “Down the River” (premiered in Karlovy Vary in 2014), Asif Rustamov introduces failed sinful nameless losers in a destructive game of passion, education, crime and punishment with references to the Coen Brothers.
The hands of the tormented one-eyed Artist are directly linked to his soul and he touches death every day. The most desirable Sculptor made the first marble sculpture for the mysteriously passed Mother. He passionately loves the gorgeous, caring and adventurous Woman, who moonlights as the Museum Guide, the Singer, sometimes the Fortune Teller. The unfaithful woman is in an odd marriage and capable of anything. She tempts, fucks, provokes, confronts, and challenges the far too shy Painter as true femme fatale.
Monotonous life turns into a dangerously complicated affair after the unwelcomed return of the bullying hateful Father, convicted for murder, but unexpectedly released from prison. The former mining engineer seeks atonement in his own way, though he ultimately wishes to witness how the Son grows into a real man. The lively and eloquent old crook is embarrassingly certain that sometimes killing a person can also be a good deed.
Edvinas Pukšta
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Asif Rustamov was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 1975. He studied at the private Economy University (1992-1995) and graduated from the cinema faculty of the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Art (2000-2004) with a degree in directing. His work includes documentaries (The Crossroad, 2004, Sun City, 2007) and shorts (The House, 2007, With the Back to Kiblah, 2009) that were shown and awarded at many international festivals. In 2014, he made his debut feature, Down the River, which premiered at Karlovy Vary IFF. It won the audience award at Xian Silk Road IFF and best debut at SEEFest. Asif is a co-founder of the Azerbaijan Association of Young Filmmakers and one of the editors of the Azeri film magazine Fokus.
Filmograafia Axinla ashagi (Down the River, 2014), Mərmər soyuğu (Cold as Marble 2022)
Grand Prix for The Best Film, grant of 20 000 euros from the city of Tallinn
