Cinema of Azerbaijan

Cinema of Azerbaijan
"Vatan" cinema center in Baku
No. of screens	17 (2011)
• Per capita	0.2 per 100,000 (2011)
Produced feature films (2010)
Fictional	9 (45.0%)
Animated	2 (10.0%)
Documentary	9 (45.0%)
Number of admissions (2011)
Total	77,000
National films	6,600 (8.6%)
Gross box office (2011)
Total	AZN 364,800
National films	AZN 6,000 (1.6%)

The film industry in Azerbaijan dates back to 1898. In fact, Azerbaijan was among the first countries involved in cinematography. When the Lumière brothers of France premiered their first motion picture footage in Paris on December 28, 1895, little did they know how rapidly it would ignite a new age of photographic documentation. These brothers invented an apparatus, patented in February 1895, which they called the "Cinématographe" (from which the word "cinematography" is derived). It is not surprising that this apparatus soon showed up in Baku – at the turn of the 19th century, this bay town on the Caspian was producing more than 50 percent of the world's supply of oil. Just like today, the oil industry attracted foreigners eager to invest and to work.

A Frenchman by the name of Alexandre Michon was among the first entrepreneurs who came and settled in Baku. A photographer and cameraman by profession, he is believed to have lived in Baku for more than 25 years where he set up a photo studio. Mishon became active in forming a scientific photo circle in Baku and became its secretary. From 1879 to 1905, he documented landscapes, episodes from oil extraction, the refining process, as well as the oil gushers and terrifying fires that broke out in the oil fields. In 1898, Mishon began shooting motion pictures that depicted everyday life in Baku. It was his intention to exhibit them in Paris.

Michon's footages still exist up to date in the archives of the Union of Cinematographers of Azerbaijan. The Folk Dance of Caucasus was later used in a documentary, and the scenes from The Oil Gush Fire in Bibiheybat were shown in France in 1995, in a film commemorating the 100th anniversary of world cinema.

The Newspaper Announcement about Michon's films:

"On Sunday, August 2, 1898, A. Michon, 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.