Nesimi (Nasimi)

Nesimi (Azerbaijani: Nəsimi) is a 1973 Soviet-Azerbaijani historical film directed by Hasan Seyidbeyli. It combines drama, period piece and biography; it was made at the Azerbaijanfilm studio, is spoken in Russian and Azerbaijani, and runs 96 minutes. Its subject is the life and work of Imadaddin Nasimi, the great Azerbaijani poet and philosopher, and it is dedicated to the 600th anniversary of the classic poet's birth.

The screenplay adapts Isa Mughanna's historical-philosophical novel Mahshar. Shooting took place in several countries rather than only in Azerbaijan: Baku, Absheron, Gobustan, Nakhichevan and Shamakhi, plus Bukhara and Samarkand in Uzbekistan and Aleppo and Damascus in Syria. Rasim Balayev plays the lead, and the cast also includes Muxtar Maniyev, Yusif Vəliyev, İsmayıl Osmanlı, Xalidə Quliyeva, Kamal Xudaverdiyev, Tofig Mirzoyev, Almaz Əsgərova and Memmedrza Sheikhzamanov.

Nesimi is counted among the best historical films made in Azerbaijan during the Soviet period. It was also Balayev's first role in a major film, and it made him a notable actor.