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The Days of Uzbek Cinema has kicked off at Nizami Cinema Center in Baku, Azernews reports.

The large-scale event was co-organized by the Azerbaijan Culture Ministry and the Film Agency.

Deputy Culture Minister of Azerbaijan Murad Huseynov and the First Deputy Culture Minister of Uzbekistan Avazkhon Tajikhanov addressed the opening ceremony of the event.

Opening the Days of Uzbek Cinema in Azerbaijan, Murad Huseynov welcomed those gathered, hailing the friendly ties between the peoples of the two countries, including in the field of cinematography.

He noted that the Uzbek actress Nelli Ataullayeva starred in the film "Meeting" (1955), produced at Baku Film Studio by director Tofig Tagizade.

Further, the filmmakers of Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan were connected by fruitful cooperation that lasted for many years.

The Azerbaijan Deputy Culture Minister outlined that the Azerbaijan State Film Fund stores over 100 Uzbek feature films, including cinema works by Shukhrat Abbasov, Ali Khamraev and Latif Fayziev.

Murad Huseynov underlined that the film "Mother-in-Law" directed by Huseyn Seyidzade enjoys special sympathy among the Uzbek audience.

In conclusion of his speech, Murad Huseynov once again congratulated the guests and film lovers on the wonderful international film festival - the Days of Uzbek Cinema in Azerbaijan and wished them a pleasant viewing.

The First Deputy Culture Minister of Uzbekistan Avazkhon Tajikhanov welcomed the distant, but close and related to the Uzbek Azerbaijani people as representatives of the Turkic world.

"The Azerbaijani people were one nation with us, drank water from the same ditch with us, shared the same bread with us, spoke the same language. We still have one religion. It`s not for nothing that the great Uzbek poet Alisher Navoi, continuing the traditions of Nizami Ganjavi, wrote the epic "Khamsa" in the Turkic language (the work was written in Chagatai, a medieval Turkic language spoken in Central Asia), and Muhammad Fuzuli called Alisher Navoi his teacher. And there are many such examples. The Cloth Peddler (1945) production is still staged in many theaters in Uzbekistan with a great success. Or, the already mentioned film "Mother-in-Law", although Azerbaijani, we consider it our Uzbek film. At the moment, thanks to the desire of the presidents of the two countries to bring our peoples even closer together, relations are reaching a new level in all areas, including the humanitarian and cultural ones. The Days of Culture are held with great success in both countries, as evidenced by the present event, within the framework of which multi-genre works of Uzbek filmmakers are presented - for a more extensive understanding of the director's specifics, Avazkhon Tajikhanov said.

Furthermore, the film Evrilish (Evolution) was screened as part of the ceremony.

The war drama directed by Yolkin Tuychiev tells the story of the fate of an Uzbek man who was drafted into the ranks of the Soviet Army and became the hero of one of the hot spots. The war changes his life and the lives of those around him, he goes abroad. Years later, the man decides to return to his homeland, Uzbekistan.

The film received has been awarded at 27th Busan International Film Festival in the KIM Jiseok Award category.

This award recognizes the work of the most talented Asian directors in the A Window on Asian Cinema section of the festival. Filming took place in Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Egypt and the UK.

The film cast included Olmas Urayev, Bakhrom Matchonov, Botir Abdurakhmonov, Zhurabek Arziev, Ilmira Rakhimdzhanova, Yulduz Radzhabova, Igor Bukhaidze, Evgeny Moskvichev and others.

The program of Days of Uzbek Cinema features movies like "Evrilish" (Evolution), "Yasha, xotin" (Long Live, Wife!), "Sudya" (Judge) and "Baxodir" (Bahadır). The Days of Uzbek Cinema will last until July 23.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1995 between the two countries, bilateral ties have forged deep bonds. Over 100 documents have been signed between the two countries until today.

The holding of the Uzbek Culture Days in Baku in 2023 was another step towards strengthening Azerbaijani-Uzbek relations.

The large-scale event featured gala concerts, theater performances, book presentation, exhibition and other events that aimed to highlight Azerbaijani-Uzbek relations.

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

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