Shirvani Chalaev

Shirvani Chalaev

88 (1936-11-16)
Khosrekh, Dagestan ASSR, USSR [now Russia]

Shirvani Chalaev is a Dagestani composer who has written for film and theatre. His oeuvre includes many operas, ballets, and symphonies. He also wrote the national anthem of his homeland, the Republic of Dagestan.

Most Known for...

Movie Picture

Swallows Have Arrived 2007 (6)

Pale, thin, cold-sweating Pik (Khugaev) teaches literature at the local university to students so indifferent they play cards and take phone calls while he lectures. "The hell with you,” he says, walking out mid-class. It’s unclear just why Pik seems so sickly, though by midpoint we realize he’s a heroin addict in withdrawal. Broke, alienated, shunned by his dealer, he searches for a fix or any other salvation, sharing his bleak thoughts in voiceover. Attractive lensing and spare piano/ambient sound score abet the feature’s melancholy, meditative aura.
Movie Picture

Chick's Childhood 2021 (6)

A growing up drama based on the stories of Fazil Iskander. The film is set in Abkhazia at the end of the Stalin era, in the late 40s - early 50s of the 20th century. 13-year-old Chik, a mischievous and contemplative person, lives the usual life of a Soviet schoolboy in the sunny town of Mukhus on the seashore. The sudden arrest of his father makes Chika more acutely experiencing his growing up, but cannot change his cheerful character and kind heart. A heightened sense of justice becomes the source of his both dangerous and comic adventures.
Movie Picture

The Secret of The Blue Mountains 1982

The film takes place in one of Dagestani villages. It tells the story of Murad and Maisarat, two teenagers, who fall in love with each other. Their love can't exist though, in a conservative environment of Dagestani customs, because Maisarat was betrothed to another boy, and the couple can't go against the will of parents.