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2/8/1898: Mishon Brings Film to Azerbaijan
Until recently it was believed that the first film made in Azerbaijan was Boris Svetlov's V tsarstve nefti i milionov (In the Kingdom of Oil and Millions), but the discovery of a newspaper announcement by Aydin Kazimzade in the archives of the Lenin Library in Moscow shed light on an earlier cinematic pioneer in the country.
A presentation of films made by a Frenchman named A. Mishon, who resided in the town of Baku on the shores of the Caspian Sea for more than 25 years, was held on the evening of Sunday 2nd August according to the announcement in the "kaspi" newspaper the day before. The announcement read:
"On Sunday, August 2, 1898, A. Mishon, will show some motion pictures that he has taken with a Lumière movie camera and which has been improved by the engineer Jules Carpentier. These films of the Caucasus and Central Asia have been prepared for the forthcoming International Paris Exhibition and will be presented only once in Baku at the V. I. Vasilyev-Vyatski Circus Theater.
"The following films will be shown: Fire resulting from an oil gusher at Bibi-Heybat oil field, the departure ceremony of His Excellency Amir of Bukhara (now Uzbekistan) in the Grand Duke Alexei steamship, a folk dance of the Caucasus, and scenes from the comedy, 'So, You Got Caught,' which was performed recently in one of Baku's parks. For more detailed information, see the posters. The event starts at 21:00 (9 p.m.)."
The show was such a success that Mishon repeated the performance on the 5th August, replacing the last two films with scenes of life in Balakhani outisde of Baku. Much of Mishon's footage from these screenings still exists. [ADD]
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