Emotions snipped off

Kidman,who has Azerbaijani roots,feels that the country,barely two decades old,is still going through a process of transition. It will take some time for things to become more liberal and modern there. “I had to endure many serious problems while shifting to Baku in 1995. The most pressing being the language. Even though we were staying in the Russian sector,a majority of the people there spoke Azerbaijani,so even studying was a problem,” she recalls.

She admits that Baku has grown by leaps and bounds,and independence has brought in more liberal thoughts. “Also,since the country was new on the scene,the development was limited to administrative buildings. Schools and colleges were less in number and the schooling techniques were not comparable to Moscow. It was in college that I was exposed to better facilities,and that helped me to decide the future course of my career,” she says.

A very important reason why Kidman chose to study films was because of the deplorable condition of the film industry in Azerbaijan. “Three to four films are made in Azerbaijan in a year and that too they are government sponsored. They cannot afford to make films there because it is very expensive. Apart from the expenses,there is also a lot of government censorship. Directors cannot shoot films on 35 mm film cameras because of the costs involved,and the digital format hasn’t picked up there. For the ones who do manage to make films,it is at the risk of being jailed or even killed if they are anti-government or if they deal with social issues. After finishing my course,I would want to go back and make films about my country,but in Turkey and not in Azerbaijan.”

The political landscape is another aspect of the country that bothers Kidman. “The political scenario back home in Azerbaijan can be labelled ‘pseudo-democracy’. On paper,we do have a system in place,but,of course,all is controlled. Women are allowed to roam freely and,even though Islam is the main religion,out there women do not compulsorily have to wear the ‘hijab’. There are no restrictions on coming out of the house to work. There is a lot of individualistic freedom in these aspects,but one cannot speak or raise their voices against the government. You get thrown in jail for that.”