Arif Gasimov

In capital city Baku, eminent editor Yusef Abranov and director Mehmet are determined to get their latest movie made by any means necessary, after being shut down by the bankrupt national studio. Following various schemes, the only way left to raise the cash is to marry off Yusef’s son to the daughter of the rich guy who’s bought Yusef’s bizarre, mirror-filled house.

The film tells the story of two brothers, Ji and Mi, who were separated for many years and found each other after 20 years.

The film takes place in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku at the end of the 1980s. At this time, the Soviet Union was starting to fall apart, and with this came the start of a number of ethnic conflicts. Fariz and his family move into a Baku apartment block from war-torn Nagorno-Karabakh. Fariz's relations with his new neighbors are strained by his accusations that it was people like them who failed to support the Azeris in their conflict with ethnic Armenians. The only one who stands up to him is Alik, who acts as peacemaker between him and the older inhabitants of the building. Alik has no reservations about brandishing his gun in order to keep the peace. One day, the apartment managers want to evict a number of musicians who have been squatting in the basement. Alik gets involved, but soon discovers the situation is more complicated that he first believed.

Story of a painter hiding in the attic claiming to be French and refusing to speak Azerbaijani even with his family. To return him to his roots, his family and in-laws try different methods.

The sculptor Mahmud, an art student comes to his grandmother's village for vacation. He chooses his cousin Zumrad as a living model for his diploma work. When the work has finished, the relatives of Zumrad demand Mahmud to marry her. A young artist runs away. After all, he can't marry all the models he's working with...

A young craftsman Shamil lives in a small town. Everyone respects him for his good hat-making skills and his kind and cheerful disposition. He falls in love with the daughter of a wealthy merchant, Kamyab, and she loves him back. But the father doesn’t want his daughter to marry a poor man. Shamil’s friends help him kidnap the girl. However, the friends betray Shamil for the sake of money and the operation fails.

The events occur during the Nagorno-Karabakh War. Because of a corpse in a zinc coffin with an arguable address, two families get excited. Having cut the lid off the coffin to identify the soldier, they find out that he is, in fact, Armenian - former citizen of Baku.

The film is based on the play of the same name by Mirza Fatali Akhundov, the founder of Azerbaijani dramaturgy.