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