Days of Azerbaijani Cinema open in Uzbekistan

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

Days of Azerbaijani Cinema have solemnly opened in Tashkent's Zarafshan concert hall.

The event is co-organized by Azerbaijan Ministry of Culture, Uzbekkino Agency and the Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center in Tashkent, Trend Life reported.

In their remarks, Director General of the Uzbekkino National Agency Firdavs Abdukhalikov, chief consultant of the cinematography department at the Azerbaijan Ministry of Culture Almaz Sultanzade, Azerbaijani ambassador to Uzbekistan Huseyn Guliyev, MP Ganira Pashayeva, honored art worker, film critic and director Ayaz Salayev, director and screenwriter Mirbala Salimli, director Shamil Aliyev stressed the importance of expanding creative contacts and implementing joint projects.

Speakers also provide insight into the Azerbaijani cinematography and its success in the international arena.

A photo exhibition on Azerbaijani cinema and a corner called "Azerbaijan - The Land of Fire" were organized as part of the event. The audience also enjoyed the performance by Azerbaijani musicians and the dance group.

The event will be attended by cultural figures, diplomats, cinema experts, students of higher educational institutions, representatives of the Azerbaijani diaspora, journalists and others.

The Days of Azerbaijani Cinema will be held in the cities of Tashkent, Almalyk and Samarkand.

Spectators will be presented with feature films directed by Mirbala Salimli ("Red Garden"), Ilgar Najaf  ("Pomegranate Orchard"), Shamil Aliyev ("Steppe Man"), Rafig Aliyev and Javid Tevekkul ("Lesson") as well as documentaries by Natalya Zavoznodenko  ("Baku in the Mirror of Centuries"), Adil Azay ("Sage who remained in Secret") and Valentina Gurkalenko ("Huseyn Khan Nakhchivansky. The Returning").

The Days of Azerbaijani Cinema will last until October 2.

Azerbaijan has a rich cinema history and has significantly contributed to the international film industry.

Today, the Azerbaijani cinema has come to be an internationally recognized modern art enjoying a huge popularity and recognition at international film festivals, which frequently award the national films. Over the past years, more than 300 films and 1,200 documentaries, as well as hundreds of cartoons were filmed in Azerbaijan.

Shortly after the invention of cinematography in 1895, Russian photographer and cameraman Alexandre Michon began shooting motion pictures that depicted everyday life in Baku. 

The first short, silent film of Azerbaijan "You are caught" was shown in Baku on August 2, 1898. The audience witnessed a historical event - the birth of Azerbaijani cinematography.

To honor this historical day, the national leader Heydar Aliyev signed an order on December 18, 2000, to declare August 2 as professional holiday of cinema workers – Day of Azerbaijani Cinema.