By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

The Uzbek Cinema Days have started at Nizami Cinema Center, bringing together public and art figures, Azernews reports.

The days are organized by the Uzbek Cinema Agency in partnership with Azerbaijani Culture Ministry and the Uzbek embassy in Baku.

In their remarks, Secretary of the Azerbaijani Filmmakers Union, Honored Art Worker Ayaz Salayev, director of the State Film Fund, Honored Art Worker Jamil Guliyev, head of Audiovisual and Interactive Media Department Rufat Hasanov praised the fraternal relations between the two countries, which are historically connected by common Turkic roots.

At the opening ceremony, Ayaz Salayev greeted the guests and said that his interest in Uzbek cinema started during his childhood.

"When I was a child, my father told me about the great scientist and ruler Ulugbey. Although I was more interested in European films at that time, my father's stories awakened an unusual interest in the East, especially Uzbekistan. We lived under one flag during the Soviet era. But later, although the USSR collapsed, the Uzbek and Azerbaijani peoples did not separate from each other, our relations continued. Today, when the peoples of the Turkic world come together, it is very important to share our cultures and come up with joint projects," said Salayev.

Honored Art Worker Jamil Guliyev spoke about the importance of organizing Uzbekistan cinema days in Azerbaijan. He noted that Uzbek cinematography has a unique place in Eastern cinema, in general, in the post-Soviet space. During the Soviet era, Uzbek actors were awarded the honorary title People's Artist of the USSR:

"The most famous of them is the work of Kamil Yarmatov. Nabi Ganiyev's film "Tahir and Zohra" always shines light on Uzbek cinema. I watched with interest the films "Seventh Bullet", "Extraordinary Commissioner", the screen works created by Ali Khamrayev, Shohrat Abbasov's works, especially the film "You are not an orphan". In short, Uzbek films are unique and remarkable. For decades, Azerbaijani cinematographers have worked together with their Uzbek counterparts. Uzbek actors have appeared in such films as "Meeting", "Flamingo", both produced by AzerbaijanFilm studio. Uzbek actors played roles in the films. All this remains in the golden pages of our cinema history, and we believe that in the future, the cinematographers of the two brotherly nations will cooperate closely in joint film production," said Guliyev.

He pointed out that 50 Uzbek films and more than 3,000 photos of Uzbek cinema have been preserved in the Azerbaijan State Film Fund.

Head of Audiovisual and Interactive Media Department Rufat Hasanov said that Days of Azerbaijani Cinema were organized in Tashkent and Bukhara within the Tashkent International Film Festival held in September. Azerbaijani films received great interest at the festival.

During his speech, Uzbek Film Agency director general Firdavs Abdulkhaligov stressed the importance of holding such events for the sake of strengthening cultural partnership between the two countries.

He said that holding the Days of Uzbek cinema in Azerbaijan, which is developing and modernizing day by day, is a remarkable event.

The Uzbek Film Agency director informed the ceremony participants that the two countries plan to work on a joint project- a film about Molla Nasreddin, a fictional character in folklore.

In conclusion, Firdavs Abdulkhaligov expressed his hope that Uzbek films would be welcomed by the Azerbaijani film lovers.

Azerbaijani director Eldar Mammadov said that he has been living in Uzbekistan for forty years and there is great love and respect for Azerbaijan in Uzbekistan,

"This is also evident in our culture and art. At this level, the documentary "Eternal friendship and brotherhood", which will be shown at the opening ceremony, is dedicated to the relations between Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. Our peoples are connected to each other by spiritual threads. The motto "One nation, two states", which unites Azerbaijan and Turkiye, is also valid for the people of Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan," he said.

Actress Lala Eltoyeva,head of Cinema Art portal Shakira Hamro expressed their satisfaction with being in Azerbaijan and spoke about the exchange of art between the two countries.

After the speeches, the film "Eternal friendship and brotherhood" was presented to the audience.

The film reviews historical facts, political and cultural relations between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. The scriptwriter of the film is the film director Eldar Mammadov.

Uzbek Cinema Days also includes films like Maksud Shaikhzoda, 101 Flight, Baron 2, The Fate of a Woman, etc.