Azerbaijan cinema-2022: Expectations and experiences… |

“For the first time, money is allocated for the production of a full-length feature film, but the film is not produced”

2022 is coming to an end.

What events and innovations were remembered in various fields of culture this year?

First, we start with cinema, because, unlike other fields of culture, cinema is constantly in the center of attention of the public, the media, film critics, in short, everyone.

Film critics shared their thoughts and comments about the end of the year with Meydan TV.

Azerbaijan first in movie history, but…

Film critic Sevda Sultanova says that the main event in the field of cinema this year is the decree signed by the President “On the establishment of the Film Agency and ensuring the Agency’s activities”.

According to him, last year the Minister of Culture Pomegranate Karimov said that a feature film about Karabakh will be made in 2022. But this year, not only about Karabakh, but in general, not a single full-length feature film was produced.

Azerbaijan it is the first time in the history of cinema that money is allocated for the production of a full-length feature film, but the film is not produced with that money. In addition, three films shot last year (“Life seems to be beautiful”, “Maryam”, “Marble Cold”) have not yet had their local premiere.

The money that will go to the 7 winners of the “Support for full-length feature film projects” competition has not been paid.

Sevda Sultanova noted that the money that will go to the 7 winners of the “Support for full-length feature film projects” competition, which is a 300,000 manat support fund organized by the ministry last year, has not been paid to date.

From “Karingulu”. news-there is no ether”

“From the animation project “Karingulu”, which has been produced for several years and whose budget is close to 300,000 manats news“There is no ether,” he said.

According to him, one of the events recently the minister Pomegranate Karimov had a meeting with the cinema community.

The meeting of the minister, which was not disclosed to the public…

The details of the meeting are not clear to the public as the press was not allowed to attend: “But according to the information I received from several participants, the meeting was not as productive as expected.”

Turkey This year’s demonstration with the Second Karabakh For some reasons, the production of the joint TV series was postponed until next year.

The project without a tender…

“Although various film events take place during the year, their national It is difficult to talk about the benefit to our cinema. For example, 385,270 manats spent on the Interact Film Lab project, a theoretical project supported by the ministry, is an excessive and useless amount. Moreover, the project took place without a tender, report lacks transparency. It was appropriate to give this amount to our directors for making films,” said the film critic.

“As you can see, the most memorable event this year in a positive sense is the establishment of the Film Agency. We can also mention the publication of the next issue of “Fokus”, the only academic film magazine in Azerbaijan”, says Sevda Sultanova.

“Azerbaijan it was not a satisfactory year for cinema”

Film critic Haji Safarov also shared his comments on annual reports with Meydan TV.

He also thinks that this year Azerbaijan was not productive enough for the cinema: “Approximately 6.5 million manats from the budget for the cinema every year funds even though it was separated, not a single feature film was released for production. The money of the 7 winners of the “Support for full-length feature film projects” competition has not been paid, and this is the issue Azerbaijan remains the main problem of cinema.
In the information released by the Chamber of Accounts regarding the cinema, it was stated that inconsistencies with the law were discovered. From this point of view, we see that it was not a satisfactory year for Azerbaijani cinema at all.”

“The participation of any film in the festival does not contribute to the development of the film industry”

“Some independent and government commissioned films have won awards at international festivals. But this is not enough. Based on our experience, we can say that the participation of a film in the festival does not contribute to the development of the film industry in Azerbaijan. Everything remains as it is. Directors expect that the state will take pity on them and give them a chance to make films again,” he said.

“Despite the creation of the Film Agency, the cinema of Azerbaijan is still in place this year”

The cinematographer says that despite the creation of the Cinema Agency, the cinema of Azerbaijan is still in place this year:

“One of the best events that happened in the last year in Azerbaijani cinema, at least on paper, was the establishment of the Azerbaijan Republic Film Agency. As for the agency’s role in the development of cinema, here again the situation will depend on management. This is the main question. Time will tell. In general, the cinema of Azerbaijan stopped and could not move forward.

“…compared to previous years, there is more activity”

“But at festivals held in the country – Animafilm International Animation Festival, Baku At the International Short Film Festival, DokuBaku International Documentary Film Festival, Seville International Women’s Documentary Film Festival, we saw that there was more activity than in previous years. The reason is that these festivals are held continuously. A certain festival tradition is created, its followers are formed. The holding of such events is very important for the recognition of Azerbaijan as a country of cinema. Therefore, work should be done in this direction,” Haji Safarov said.

Culture Minister Anar Karimov spoke about the next year’s strategy at the event held in connection with the results of 2021 had spoken.

He announced that in 2022, the Film Agency, Second Karabakh a film will be made about the war and will be shown on the “Netflix” movie platform.

Of these, only the document related to the activities of the Republic of Azerbaijan Film Agency was signed.

Decree on the establishment of the Film Agency President Ilham Aliyev April 2022 20in signed.

The initial charter fund of the Film Agency 100,000 (one hundred thousand) manats and at the expense of the state budget is formed.

Second Karabakh Although the production process of the eight-part feature film planned for the war was planned for 2022, it was postponed to 2023.

The film will be produced by Turkey’s “Bozdag Film” Yapım Prodüksiyon Reklam Construction Turizm Sanayi Ticaret Anonim Company.

The total budget of the film is 1 million 700 thousand dollars contane.

Spending half of the film budget for filming the series caused dissatisfaction among cinematographers and film critics had been.