DIRECTOR: Zaur Gasimli
STARRING: Parviz Mammadrzayev, Nofel Shahlaroglu, Manaf Dadashov, Elshan Rustamov, Rovshan Mammadli
RUNNING TIME: 1 hr 44 minutes
LANGUAGE: Azerbaijani, Russian
PLOT: American journalist Jerry Thompson travels deep into the Soviet Union, arriving in the sun-soaked outskirts of Baku, Azerbaijan. In the quiet settlement of Mardakan, he visits a secluded villa where he encounters an elderly man whose story defies belief. The man introduces himself as Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev, once a powerful oil magnate, millionaire, and philanthropist, now stripped of everything after the rise of Soviet rule. As the two men talk, Haji unfolds the extraordinary tale of his life, tracing his path from a modest mason to one of the most influential industrialists of his time.
GENRE: Drama
FILMING LOCATION: Baku, Azerbaijan
To check out all previous submissions for Azerbaijan, click HERE.
STARRING: Parviz Mammadrzayev, Nofel Shahlaroglu, Manaf Dadashov, Elshan Rustamov, Rovshan Mammadli
RUNNING TIME: 1 hr 44 minutes
LANGUAGE: Azerbaijani, Russian
PLOT: American journalist Jerry Thompson travels deep into the Soviet Union, arriving in the sun-soaked outskirts of Baku, Azerbaijan. In the quiet settlement of Mardakan, he visits a secluded villa where he encounters an elderly man whose story defies belief. The man introduces himself as Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev, once a powerful oil magnate, millionaire, and philanthropist, now stripped of everything after the rise of Soviet rule. As the two men talk, Haji unfolds the extraordinary tale of his life, tracing his path from a modest mason to one of the most influential industrialists of his time.
GENRE: Drama
FILMING LOCATION: Baku, Azerbaijan
To check out all previous submissions for Azerbaijan, click HERE.
FILM REVIEW:
(This review contains spoilers.)
“Let us face the trials that God has sent us, side by side, my son."
Zaur Gasimli’s Taghiyev: Oil marks the powerful first chapter in a cinematic tetralogy devoted to the life of Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev, one of Azerbaijan’s most influential historical figures. This opening installment focuses on his early years as a determined entrepreneur, a mason turned visionary who dared to see potential where others saw barren land. Gasimli’s film is not simply a biographical recounting, but a vivid portrayal of ambition in a time when fortune was as volatile as the oil buried beneath the earth. From the start, the film establishes a tone of perseverance and discovery, immersing viewers in the uncertain yet electric atmosphere of 19th-century Baku, when the promise of oil began reshaping destinies.
The film’s narrative unfolds with a deliberate rhythm, mirroring the slow and grueling process of Taghiyev’s early ventures. We witness his financial risks, his near-failures, and his unwavering conviction in the face of doubt. Gasimli crafts these moments with emotional precision, showing not only the physical struggle to acquire and drill land, but the psychological weight of believing in a dream no one else could see. The cinematography accentuates this hardship, wide desert shots evoke isolation and determination, while close, sweat-soaked frames of men laboring in the dust reveal the sheer human effort behind what would later become an empire. The film’s score, spare yet poignant, underscores the silence of waiting and the thunderous triumph when oil finally erupts from the ground.
What makes Taghiyev: Oil so compelling is its refusal to romanticize success. Gasimli grounds the film in the texture of failure, in the stubbornness and grit required to build something lasting. The supporting characters, fellow laborers, skeptical investors, weary family members, help illuminate Taghiyev’s moral and emotional landscape, showing a man torn between practicality and idealism. By the time the first gush of oil breaks through the earth, the moment feels earned not just as a plot point, but as a spiritual awakening.
Taghiyev: Oil is a reflection on human perseverance, on the audacity to dream against all odds and the cost that comes with it. Gasimli captures how creation, in any form, demands pain, patience, and faith. The film reminds us that progress begins not with privilege, but with the willingness to struggle, to endure rejection and ridicule, and to keep digging even when the world has already given up. It’s a story about more than oil; it’s about the human drive to transform emptiness into possibility, and how one man’s vision can ignite the beginning of a nation’s future.
(This review contains spoilers.)
“Let us face the trials that God has sent us, side by side, my son."
Zaur Gasimli’s Taghiyev: Oil marks the powerful first chapter in a cinematic tetralogy devoted to the life of Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev, one of Azerbaijan’s most influential historical figures. This opening installment focuses on his early years as a determined entrepreneur, a mason turned visionary who dared to see potential where others saw barren land. Gasimli’s film is not simply a biographical recounting, but a vivid portrayal of ambition in a time when fortune was as volatile as the oil buried beneath the earth. From the start, the film establishes a tone of perseverance and discovery, immersing viewers in the uncertain yet electric atmosphere of 19th-century Baku, when the promise of oil began reshaping destinies.
The film’s narrative unfolds with a deliberate rhythm, mirroring the slow and grueling process of Taghiyev’s early ventures. We witness his financial risks, his near-failures, and his unwavering conviction in the face of doubt. Gasimli crafts these moments with emotional precision, showing not only the physical struggle to acquire and drill land, but the psychological weight of believing in a dream no one else could see. The cinematography accentuates this hardship, wide desert shots evoke isolation and determination, while close, sweat-soaked frames of men laboring in the dust reveal the sheer human effort behind what would later become an empire. The film’s score, spare yet poignant, underscores the silence of waiting and the thunderous triumph when oil finally erupts from the ground.
What makes Taghiyev: Oil so compelling is its refusal to romanticize success. Gasimli grounds the film in the texture of failure, in the stubbornness and grit required to build something lasting. The supporting characters, fellow laborers, skeptical investors, weary family members, help illuminate Taghiyev’s moral and emotional landscape, showing a man torn between practicality and idealism. By the time the first gush of oil breaks through the earth, the moment feels earned not just as a plot point, but as a spiritual awakening.
Taghiyev: Oil is a reflection on human perseverance, on the audacity to dream against all odds and the cost that comes with it. Gasimli captures how creation, in any form, demands pain, patience, and faith. The film reminds us that progress begins not with privilege, but with the willingness to struggle, to endure rejection and ridicule, and to keep digging even when the world has already given up. It’s a story about more than oil; it’s about the human drive to transform emptiness into possibility, and how one man’s vision can ignite the beginning of a nation’s future.
