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Laman Ismayilova

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The Baku Cinema Breeze festival has kicked off at the Heydar Aliyev Centre, Azernews reports.

The event is organised for the first time in the country and with the support of the Azerbaijan Culture Ministry and the Cinema Agency.

Deputy Culture Minister, People's Artist Murad Huseynov, addressed the opening ceremony. He stressed that the main goal of the festival is to promote Azerbaijan as a centre of the film industry in the region and to develop film culture.

According to the Deputy Minister, the festival will help discover interesting and diverse genre films on a global scale.

The Baku Cinema Breeze festival serves as a unified network to showcase masterpieces of world cinema by bringing together several previously held prestigious festivals. This event, aimed at the development of the audiovisual industry, is part of the Ministry of Culture's project "Creative Azerbaijan". The festival has gathered representatives of the film industry from various countries, including the USA, Canada, India, the Netherlands, Turkiye, Germany, Portugal, UAE, Greece, Korea, Georgia, Estonia, and others, as well as prominent figures from world cinema. The country's reputation in the film sector will increase. We hope that new cooperation opportunities will arise and that this festival will contribute to each of us," M. Huseynov added.

Head of the Culture Ministry's Creative Industries and Digital Development Department, Rashad Azizov, stated in a press conference that the main goal of the platform is to accelerate processes in the film industry.

"More than 30 production companies from different countries will participate. The development of the film industry is part of the series of events conducted under the social-economic development strategy. Our main objective is to encourage business entities in the country's film industry," he said.

Later, directors of various festivals united under the Baku Cinema Breeze International Film Festival spoke about the significance of the event. The leaders signed a plate marked with Baku Cinema Breeze to commemorate the special day.

During the event, video clips from various festivals were shown. The festival will last six days, during which film screenings will be organised for the capital's residents and guests, as well as for all cinema enthusiasts at venues including Nizami Cinema Centre, CineMastercard Azerbaijan, YARAT Contemporary Art Space, Kapellhouse Baku, Landmark, and YAY Gallery.

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

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