Rufat Hasanov (Ru Hasanov) was born in Baku. He studied theater at Bates College (2005-2009, USA) and the Higher Course of Directing and Screenwriting at the All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography (2012). He worked as a director at the Lupa Q production company (2013-2017, Vilnius), at the VBS.TV internet channel (USA), at the Dozhd TV channel (Russia), and as an editor at the Lemon Films studio (Russia). In 2013, his film “Chameleon” with Elvin Adigozel was included in the competition program of the International Locarno Festival. The film “The Island Inside” was awarded the “Best Director” award at the Sarajevo Film Festival (2021). He worked as the director of the “Debut” film studio (2020), and the head of the Audiovisual and Interactive Media (Cinematography) Department of the Ministry of Culture (2020-2023).