Rustam IbragimbekovRustam Ibragimbekov was born in Baku, Azerbaijan in 1939. He is an internationally renowned and multi-award winning screenwriter, dramatist and producer. He holds State awards for contributions to the arts from both Azerbaijan and Russia. His writingcredits include more than 40 film and television scripts, plays and prose. Close to Eden (1993) won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, a European Film Award for Best Film of the Year and was nominated for an Oscar. In 1994 Burnt by the Sun was awarded the Grand Prix at Cannes and an Oscar for Best Foreign Film. A stage version of Burnt by the Sun, adapted by playwright and script writer Peter Flannery (Our Friends in the North, The Devil's Whore) performed at the National Theatre in London in spring 2009. Read More Read Less