Vasil Amashukeli ( ka, ვასილ ამაშუკელი) (March 14, 1886 in

Kutaisi Kutaisi (, ka, ქუთაისი ) is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and the third-most populous city in Georgia, traditionally, second in importance, after the capital city of Tbilisi. Situated west of Tbilis ...

– December 1, 1977 in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

) was an early

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

and

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

who worked in the

Cinema of Azerbaijan Cinema of Azerbaijan dates back to the 19th century. Azerbaijan is one of the first countries in the world involved in cinematography. The first Azerbaijani film was a thirty second long silent film called The Oil Gush Fire in Bibiheybat, which ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. He studied at Vasil Tamarashvili Art School in

. In 1908 he graduated from

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

division courses of French film firm “Gomon”. Amashukeli is the first Georgian documentary director. In 1907 Amashukeli working in

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

made several films of oil production in the capital including the extracting process. His films included ''Bakı Bazarlarının Tipləri'' ( Types of Bakuvian Bazaars - short documentary), ''Daş Kömür Daşınması'' ( Transportation of Coal), ''Dəniz kənarında gəzinti'' ( Seaside Walk), ''Neft buruqlarında iş'' (

Work at Oil Derricks ''Work at Oil Derricks'' ( az, Neft buruqlarında iş) is a 1907 Azerbaijani film directed by Vasili Amaşukeli. The film was shot on 35 mm and captures oil production at a works in the Azeri capital of Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is t ...

), and ''Neftin çıxarılması'' (

Oil Extraction Petroleum is a fossil fuel that can be drawn from beneath the earth's surface. Reservoirs of petroleum was formed through the mixture of plants, algae, and sediments in shallow seas under high pressure. Petroleum is mostly recovered from oil dri ...

) all filmed in 1907. Then he made several films between 1908 and 1912. These included: ''Nakhet tqveni sakhe'', ''Gaseirneba zgvis sanapiroze'' (Walking on the Beach) (1908), ''Qutaisis peizajebi'' (Sides of City Qutaisi), ''Qutaisis parki'' (Park of Qutaisi) (1911) and ''Akakis mogzauroba '' (

Journey of Akaki ''Journey of Akaki'' is a 1912 Georgian documentary film directed by Vasil Amashukeli. The film having a duration of 44 minutes, it is considered a feature film. Content The film shows the love of Georgian society to the poet Akaki Tsereteli, a ...

) in 1912, that is the unique monument of Georgian documentary art. This film let to the outbreak of the Georgia documentary cinematography. The memories of Vasil Amashukeli about the journey of

Akaki Tsereteli Count Akaki Tsereteli ( ka, აკაკი წერეთელი) (1840–1915), often mononymously known as Akaki,Sometimes mistakenly rendered in Russian as Akakiy. Georgian spelling Akaki and Russian spelling Akakiy are both derived from th ...

in Racha-Lechkhumi, together with the photos taken during the journey, are preserved at the department of Literature and Art of the Central Archive of the Contemporary History of the National Archives of Georgia.

Filmography

; As director * ''

'' (1912) * ''Qutaisis parki (Short documentary)'' (1911) * ''Qutaisis peizajebi (Short documentary)'' (1911) * ''Gaseirneba zgvis sanapiroze (Short)'' (1908) * ''Nakhet tqveni sakhe (Documentary)'' (1908) ; As cinematographer * ''

References

External links

* 1886 births 1977 deaths Film directors from Georgia (country) Azerbaijani film directors Cinematographers from Georgia (country) Azerbaijani cinematographers People from Kutaisi {{azerbaijan-bio-stub