Discoveries from Azerbaijan World Cinema

Last movie of quadrilogy.

A little snail finds an empty house. The insects congratulate him and give him gifts. But the snail does not let them into his house, saying, "My house is too small." The insects turn their backs on him. The snail, which is getting bigger day by day, cannot settle in his house and is forced to carry it on his back.

After losing his mother as a child, Rasim grows into a man drifting toward crime. Just as he is about to make the greatest mistake of his life, an unprecedented event intervenes—altering his fate forever.

The kinonovella states that skill is revealed not in words, but in deeds. As the elders say: “A white face and a black face become clear in a difficult moment.”

The film tells about three childhood friends. Friends rent a house for their girlfriend who flew from America. Although the house looks ordinary, strange things start happening in the neighborhood. Once, on the birthday of one of the friends, many things become known. The main events occur after the birthday.

Short film by Taleh Yuzbayov.

Living and working in the decaying confines of a construction site, a young couple struggles to secure a hopeful future for their unborn child, trapped in a cycle of poverty and exploitation as they search for redemption amidst the rubble.

A woman who betrays her husband conspires with a group of robbers to steal her husband's money and hatches a cunning plan against him. What should the house raiders do to achieve their goal, pretending to be home repairmen?

The return of a warlord to his village, longing for the flame within him to be rekindled.

A woman that gets nightmares and see's creatures that haunts her...but is it all real or just her sick imagination?

After losing all he holds dear in a senseless war, Hasan, an elderly refugee goes on a fateful journey to rescue his beloved horse.

On Kuren's birthday, Yaramaz comes to his house as a guest and causes trouble, ruining everyone's mood.

Nargiz, a young Azerbaijani filmmaker caught between the traditions of her upbringing and the rapidly changing world, begins to unpack her complicated relationship with her parents as she seeks peace and self-acceptance in her own life. Nargiz tries to find a common understanding with her parents through conversations about their feelings and Soviet-influenced past.

The prisoners run away from jail. The wardens become prisoners, while prisoners turn into wardens.

A small family lives in Baku. After the sudden disappearance of the father and the horrifying events unfolding around her, 22-year-old Fira is trying to get herself out of her suppressed state and help her mother to cope with it. A story about hope, which as we know, dies last.

Sharaf Khanum (Elmira Shabanova) is not accepted by her three daughters-in-law in the film about the problem of a daughter-in-law.

The film tells about the study of the cruel impact of the communist-bolshevik ideology on the cultural heritage and the way of thinking of Azerbaijan against of the background of the life and work of Mikayil Huseynov and Sadyq Dadashov - the great Azerbaijani architects of the 20th century.

In this film, 6 women living in different regions of Azerbaijan talk. They talk about their feelings, thoughts, and desires… What is the explanation of their happiness, what is their desire? Happiness, comfort, freedom… What is happiness? Painless death? my love Dear, Do not see the pain of the child, What is convenience? Don’t think about financial hardship, Not to depend on anyone, Will you find your soulmate? But what is freedom? Shouldn’t you be treated differently because you’re a woman? Can you transfer the world of your dreams to real life? “I’m human too…” a world where you don’t need to say… Yes? So what do you want?

Askerovs‘ family is preparing to celebrate Nigar’s 15th birthday. The family doesn’t know yet that the missile attacks on Ganja will destroy all of their lives. The walls of the destroyed house and their belongings left behind to tell the stories of the family and their happy past memories.

Ruhangiz, 70, has been active her entire life, from the time she started working in her early 20s until 2014, when she learned she had breast cancer. The disease forced her to suddenly stop working and stay at home. When Azerbaijan announced a countrywide lockdown, Ruhangiz faced a new wave of loneliness. Her sudden isolation reminded her of the traumas she suffered earlier in her life. Despite this, Ruhangiz remains hopeful and never forgets to water her flowers.

A experimental retelling of religion.

"Shusha, you are free!", A joint production of "Baku Media Center" and "Salnamefilm" studio with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The documentary was shot on the eve of Victory Day. Interesting details of the Shusha operation, one of the most important battles of the Second Karabakh War, were presented to the audience for the first time in this film. The film includes interviews with soldiers and officers carrying out the Shusha operation, as well as exclusive footage taken during the operation.

Devran, a 23-year old transman, has left his home in western Azerbaijan to seek hormonal therapy for gender adaptation surgery. But in Azerbaijan, few doctors or health clinics are willing to treat transgender people. While there are more options in the capital Baku than in his hometown of Shamkir, Devran still faces prejudice and discrimination when trying to obtain even basic medical treatment.

In the wake of a vicious anti-LGBT government crackdown in Azerbaijan in September 2017, this documentary film follows the plight of three young LGBT Azeris: Roma, Ladycat and Kristina, all of whom fled their home country hoping to find sanctuary in Istanbul.

A giraffe plays hide and seek.

After being displaced from their native homeland for thirty years, the elderly Sara sets out from Baku with her sister Hajar, heading back to their recently liberated village. Sara’s purpose is to visit the grave of her teenage son Ismayil, who was killed during the war. Hajar, however, is reluctant to confront the painful memories of the past. Throughout the journey, the sisters are forced to face long-hidden memories, losses, and betrayals. The trauma of captivity, along with the deep grief of losing a child, turns their relationship into a difficult emotional test.

My short animated film is about racism, black and white individuals, and diversity. The poem was written by a black child 20 years ago. Color does not matter!

First movie of quadrilogy.

Acclaimed photographer Rena Effendi sets out on a journey to find a rare and endangered butterfly named after her late father. Her search leads her to a militarized no man's land between two nations locked in war, where beauty, memory and conflict collide.

The film focuses on the causes and consequences of the drying up of Lake Urmia.

The moon wants to play with her cat.

Since 2021, journalist Cosgun Eldaroglu has been making a 130 km trip every two weeks from Baku to his native Shabran district to voluntarily teach private classes to the children of Gazbabali village. Gazbabali is a mountainous village with only a primary school. To continue their education, pupils must travel to the neighboring village of Amirkhanli. However, due to poverty, the long distance, and the lack of infrastructure most parents cannot afford to send their children for further education. The situation is especially dire for girls - safety concerns further limit educational opportunities for girls. As a result, most girls are unable to continue their education beyond the fourth grade, curtailing their opportunities for personal and professional growth.

This film is about a woman's life struggle starting from her father's house. Ilhama, who lives in Kish village of Sheki, spent most of her life working with tourists who came to the village. In order to get rid of the hardships she lived in his father's house, she set out to build her life in another house, in another family, in an unfamiliar environment. Although she dropped out of school for this, the new way of life brought her closer to her dreams.

In the heart of the mountains in Azerbaijan, where time seems to stand still, resides a grandmother and granddaughter both named Tazaghul. Far from city life, the family spend their lives in a remote hut. As the camera captures their daily routines, a tender and timeless bond comes to the surface. Though their life may appear monotonous, it is rich with subtle complexities. Director Atanur Nabiyeva discovered this family upon returning to his village after many years. Their story evokes her own childhood memories, and through the depiction of the grandmother and granddaughter, she gives new life into those lost moments of his past.

One of the two friends commits a murder and asks his friend for help. His friend helps him and together they go on a long and tense journey to bury the body

A performance by the Ganja State Drama Theatre.

The film tells the story of a young man named Rashad, who lives as a refugee. Jabrayil district, where Rashad was born, was occupied by Armenians in 1993. He has no childhood photos or toys. All his photos and toys were burned in his house in the district. Rashad is now 33 years old. He meets the man who took his photo when he was a child. The photographer has a few pieces of old tape. Rashad is looking for a childhood photo on tapes.

The movie is filmed around the streets of suburban districts of Baku. The background voices are from the interviews about LGBTI+s from the general public. Minority Magazine (the only LGBTI+ magazine in the country) carries out public surveys and interviews about queer experiences in the streets of Baku and the results are mostly very hateful and alarmingly homophobic and transphobic. Many people see queerness as a major sin or health issue, or just deny the community’s existence by just simply ignoring LGBTI+s. The phobia against the community affects trans people and particularly trans sex workers the most and unfortunately, many trans folks are the victims of hate crimes in the country. For the past 5 years, Azerbaijan is ranked as the most dangerous and worst country to live in for LGBTI+s by ILGA-Europe. Rising homophobia and transphobia raise major concerns for the community and the film addresses the realities of public opinions about the queer community.

One evening in front of a bar, Hunay bumps into an acquaintance, Benjamin. He recently visited her native country, Azerbaijan, which she had to flee in 2011 with her family for political reasons. A precipitous departure which has resulted in her feeling further and further removed from her hometown, family, and childhood memories every day. What happens when we can no longer return to our hometown, when our childhood memories are fading away? Can memories stay alive through someone else’s?

The film is based on interviews with inhabitants of Nagorno-Karabakh made in 2007, in a time between two wars. As in their earlier works shown in Forum Expanded, Ayreen Anastas and Rene Gabri work with different layers of time: In the past they edited and presented their films live. Here they use the temporal distance to re-evaluate old footage. Harking back to Straub/Huillet's and Pier Paolo Pasolini's engagement with Johann Sebastian Bach's compositions they experiment with the possible effects of his music.