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Laman Ismayilova

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The 14th Baku International Short Film Festival has started at Nizami Cinema.

The Culture Ministry and the State Cinema Agency are the official partners of the festival, established by the Centre for Young Cinematographers, Azernews reports.

The festival director, Fehruz Shamiyev welcomed the guests to the opening ceremony. He briefed the ceremony participants about the festival program. He underlined that many films have been produced in the country dedicated to Azerbaijan's victory in the 44-day Patriotic War.

"Every year, the festival gives us exciting moments, bright discoveries, and satisfaction from the work done. Azerbaijan's victory has changed us a lot and made us even more confident and strong. And all these feelings and emotions, undoubtedly, affect not only creating films on patriotic themes but also auteur cinema. We believe that the event will contribute to the development of the film industry," said Fehruz Shamiyev.

Head of the Cinema Agency Department, Rashad Gasimov, said that the Baku Short Film Festival is the longest film festival in Azerbaijan.

"I congratulate everyone on the 14th Baku International Short Film Festival, which is a major cultural event in the life of the country and for cinema enthusiasts. The event attracts significant attention from the international community. Over the past years, the Baku Short Film Festival has formed its own team and audience, which is a great success. I wish all participants success and the audience a pleasant viewing experience," said Rashad Gasimov.

The British Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Fergus Auld Obe, said that the festival also presented short films of British production.

"While studying the Azerbaijani language, I liked watching Azerbaijani films. I really like short films, and I am grateful to the British Council for organising the screening of British films at this festival. Viewers will be able to see four beautiful and multi-genre short films that are distinguished by their storyline and drama," the ambassador said.

The Golden Pomegranate Award was also presented as part of the event on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of Azerbaijani cinema.

Director of the State Film Fund, Honoured Artist, film director Jamil Guliyev was awarded for services in Azerbaijani cinematography and in the education of professional personnel in national cinema; Honoured Artist Najiba Huseynova was handed the Golden Pomegranate Award for her services in the field of dubbing. Honoured Artist film director Elchin Musaoglu received the prize for his services in the development of auteur cinema.

The event was hosted by Honored Artist Elnur Karimov. Foreign festival participants, who spoke that evening, stressed the importance of the project in bringing people closer together, the opportunity to learn more about the film industry of different countries, and modern trends.

The 14th Baku International Short Film Festival has received 704 films from 78 countries. The selection committee, which consists of well-known cinema experts, has included 42 films from 32 countries in the international competition program.

Some 17 films are represented in the Asian Talents category. The local competition program features 26 short films. The winner in this category will be presented with the Golden Pomegranate Award.

This year, films included in the international competition program will be judged by the winner of the Qızıl Pəri Film Award, film director, scriptwriter, Honored Artist of Azerbaijan Yaver Rzayev, whose cinema works were successfully demonstrated at the Rotterdam Film Festival, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and the Kinoshock Film Festival as well as the laureate of the Critics' Week Award at the Cannes International Film Festival, Tokyo and Moscow International Film Festivals, film director and screenwriter Reza Mirkarimi (Iran); laureate of the Berlin, Moscow, Warsaw international film festivals, director, producer Farhat Sharipov (Kazakhstan); screenwriter, script creation expert Roelof Jan Minnebo (Netherlands).

The jury in the category Asian Talents includes the program director of the BAIQONYR Film Festival, film critic Erzhan Zhumabekov (Kazakhstan); renown writer and screenwriter Sharif Agayar (Azerbaijan); winner of multiple film festivals, director, screenwriter Ramin Farzaneh (Iran).

Films in the local competition program will be judged by the Honoured Artist of Azerbaijan, theatre and film director Mehriban Alekperzadeh; chairman of the Azerbaijani Journalists' Union Elchin Shikhly; cinematographer Nadir Mehdiyev.

The Cinemobil program (films shot on a mobile phone) will feature three cinema works.

Many interesting events will be organized as part of the non-competitive program. Thus, in collaboration with the British Council, there will be a special screening of BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) nominees. The Our Language Section (Dili bizim) will feature films by Azerbaijanis living in different countries who have made films in the Azerbaijani language.

The Panorama Section will include films whose authors have high hopes for the future.

Films included in the competition program are being demonstrated at Nizami Cinema, starting at 11:00.

The retrospective dedicated to the 125th anniversary of Azerbaijani cinema features five short films shot in different years: Baku Balconies (directed by Zaur Maharramov); Long Live, Goldfish (Nijat Feyzullaev); Power of Attraction (Hasan Seyidbeyli); The Astrologer's Apprentice (Arif Maharramov); Obsession (Rufat Asadov).

On November 12 at 14:00, director Reza Mirkarimi will give a master class. On November 14, graphic designer Rasul Hasani will give a lecture on "the application of artificial intelligence technologies in cinema. The lecture starts at 16:00.

The award ceremony will take place on November 15 at 19:00

Media partners of the event are Azernews.Az, Trend.Az, Day.Az, Milli.Az.

Photo Credits: Rustam Ismayilov

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr

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