Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

The 7th edition of the European Film Festival that already turned into a pleasant tradition opened in Baku on November 3.

The ten-day festival running until November 12 will display feature and documentary films from 19 European countries. The opening ceremony was attended by directors, actors, producers, representatives of public and diplomatic missions.

Director General Cinema Park cinema network Namig Guliyev greeted the guests and noted that the festival will become a significant event in the cultural life of the capital and is considered a cultural bridge between Azerbaijan and the European Union.

"Films in different genres including comedies, dramas, thrillers, documentaries will be presented at the festival. Some of them were awarded by prestigious film awards.

Interest in the Festival in Baku increases year by year and this year new member states joined the festival. We hope that Azerbaijani fans will like the films and the European Film Festival will make another step forward in its development," he said, adding this year the festival expects about 6,000-7,000 spectators.

Head of the EU delegation in Azerbaijan Malena Mard, in turn, noted that the films will show the European culture to the Azerbaijani audience from different perspectives, and will help nations get to know each other, as well as will contribute to the cultural enrichment.

Guests of the festival will have a chance to enjoy the films shot in 2015-2016 in original languages with subtitles, directed by famous directors from Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden and UK.

The festival was opened by films from Greece and Spain. Greece presented a drama directed by Pantelis Voulgaris 'Little England', which won six awards of the Hellenic Film Academy. Spanish comedy drama directed by David Trueba ‘Living is Easy with Eyes Closed’, also awarded a number of international awards, among which six Goya awards, including the prize for best film.
Azerbaijan will be represented by a drama by Mirebali Salimli ‘Red Garden’. The film was shot by Azerbaijanfilm named after Jafar Jabbarli and Russian film company "White Media.

The European Film Festival has been organized since 2010 and serves to further building and strengthening the cultural links between the countries of the European Union and Azerbaijan, contributing to a better mutual understanding.

--

Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz