“THE PEAK OF HOPE”: THE SILENCE OF THE MOUNTAINS, THE VOICE OF HOPE
“The Peak of Hope” is a feature-length documentary based on the true story of three young climbers who went missing from the village of Khinalıq in the Guba region in December 2017 on a hike to Tufandağ. The 70-minute film was shot in Baku and in the Tufandağ area of Shahdag. The feature film starts from the 2,800-meter peak of the mountain and extends to 4,000 meters. The name of the film was not chosen by chance. The name of the search operations “Hope”, the motto of the volunteer groups “We are their hope”, and the hope of their relatives to find them led to this word being included in the film’s title. The film is currently in the editing stage and is planned to be presented to international festivals in the near future. The film is directed by Elchin Guliyev, the chief producer is Ilgar Najaf, the executive producer is Tural Ahmadsoy, and the line producer is Tahir Tahirovich. The project's cameraman is Ahmed Barasov, assistant director Bahar Demir, editor Rza Askerov, sound directors Hafiz Ibrahimli and Emil Mahmudov. The film stars the famous mountaineer Israfil Ashurl and his son Aslan Ashurl.
Director Elchin Guliyev shared his thoughts on the film with the Kinoinfo.az website.
– What inspired you to make the film “Umid Zirvesi”?
- I myself am involved in mountaineering. I was in the area about 10 days before the incident, then I fell ill and could not join the search. But I was constantly in touch with friends. Since then, I have been keeping notes about the incident. Also, all three young people had interesting life stories.
– Did you face any difficulties during the filming?
- The filming lasted 15 days, but the weather in the mountains is very changeable. Moreover, most of the team members had no experience living in mountain conditions. This made our work difficult. We also chose our technical equipment according to the mountain environment.
– Who did you apply to for support for the project?
- We applied to “Buta Film” and ARKA. I also applied to other organizations, but since it is a mountain film, it was considered risky. The total budget of the film is 130 thousand AZN.
– Do you have any plans for festivals?
- After the film is ready and the translation work is completed, we plan to apply to many international festivals. This is the first time this event has happened in the Caucasus Mountains. I believe that this will be interesting for festivals. Because the film shows not only the tragedy, but also the sports mistakes made by the climbers. At the same time, I want it to be released in cinemas. Because interest in this topic is still high in the regions.
– What is the style of the film?
- The film has both documentary and artistic elements. The documentary side is strengthened with archive footage and interviews. In the artistic part, an emotional narrative is built through the journey of a father and son.
– What did you pay attention to when writing the script?
- In the previous scenario, there was a boy and a girl journalist who went to investigate the incident. But this approach was simple. I thought that the mountain teaches a person a silent lesson, and this lesson can be passed on by a father to his son. The son decides: will he become a climber or not.
– What is the main message of the film?
- It is about human behavior in the mountains. I want to make people feel what a person is in the mountains, not who they are.
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