NEWS

Another musical evening has been held near Art Tower Gallery in Icherisheher as part of the Simurg Music Festival.

Honored Artist Sahib Pashazade, laureates of international competitions Maryam Yusifova, Kamilla Sadirkhanova, Nazrin Aslanli, Yulia Motorina, Elmina Hasanova, Saida Taghizade and Lumineux ensemble performed sountracks of famous films like "Takhmina", "Once Upon a Time in America", "Toy", "Runaways", "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and others.

Next, Emil Gozalov and Lala Gozalova stunned the audience with fierce tango.  During their performance, shots from the film "Scent of a Woman" were shown on the screen.

Notably, Simurg Music Festival 2021 aims at identifying all creative abilities of young people. The festival is headed by talented pianist Saida Tagizade.

The previous festival was held only among pianists. This year, the festival's program is more diverse and spectacular as it brings together not only pianists but also musicians and even vocalists.

Simurg Music Festival 2021 has opened with a marvelous open-air concert held in Icherisheher, next to Art Tower Gallery.

The festival is supported by the Ministries of Education and Culture, Icherisheher State Historical and Architectural Reserve, Baku City Main Cultural Department, Baku Media Center,  Arts Council Azerbaijan, Pasha Holding and Aqua Vita.

Azerbaijani film "Alagoz" has won the 16th competitive selection of film projects held by the State Film Agency of Ukraine.

The project was presented by co-producer from Ukraine Olga Matat together with producer and director Maria Ibrahimova. 

"Alagoz" tells the story of a Karabakh refugee who is looking for his beloved horse. 

The film scriot is based on the story of Meikhosh Abdullayev, telling about a refugee from Kalbajar who is looking for his Karabakh horse, who suddenly disappeared during the evacuation.

The jury praised the choice of style for describing the main characters, the director's experience, professional staff, as well as the clarity of the project.

The pitching results were approved by the Rada of the State Cinema of Ukraine, as a result of which "Alagoz" will be officially produced by Olga Matat (Evos Film, Ukraine) Zeynep Atakan (Zeyno Film,Turkey) and Maria and Emin Ibrahimovs (Cinex Production, Azerbaijan).

This is not the first time when the project joins international competitions and platforms.

The project has already won a victory in Portugal at the FEST New Directors / New Films festival. It was presented at a pitching at the International Film Festival in Odessa, and was chosen to participate in the Berlin Film Festival in the Co-Production Market in the Talents selection.

In addition, the script of the feature film has recently won first place at the national script competition "Karabakh. Person. Victory" organized by the Azerbaijan Union of Film-makers.

Evos Film is a Kiev-based production company with more than 15 years of experience in the market film, television and advertising with the highest level of service.

Zeyno-Film was founded in 2007 and to date has produced films by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, most of which have been awarded the highest cinematic awards.

Cinex has been producing films since 2010.

Karabakh carpet "Khanlig" has been presented at the National Carpet Museum.

The ceremony was held in accordance with the ancient customs that were followed while weaving the carpet.

The carpet was woven by an employee of the museum, Gulhar Soltanova, and the work on it lasted four months. The width of the "Khanlig carpet" is more than one meter, and the length is about two meters.

"Karabakh carpets have a rich color palette, bright colors. These carpets are of high quality, Khanlig carpets are excellent examples of Azerbaijan's carpet weaving art," said Soltanova.

The carpet woven by Gulhar Soltanova will be kept in the museum.

The carpet is named after Khanlig village. The basis of the carpet is a composition with a large medallion in the center and a quarter of this medallion in the corners of the middle field.

Carpets with this name are woven in several versions. In the first version, two domes are depicted in the upper and lower parts of the medallion. In the second version, the domes are replaced with white flowers in ceramic vases, therefore carpet weavers also call this version "White flowers".

These carpets are displayed in world famous museums.

Karabakh carpets are distinguished from other national carpet schools by their artistic and technological production and their size.

This carpet school is famous for its pileless carpets, including shadda, zili, verni, kilim and palas products. Karabakh carpets are characterized by bright colors and vegetative motives.

There are 33 compositions of Karabakh carpets. These carpets are produced in the towns Malibeyli, Muradkhanli, Dashbulag, Jabrayil, Horadiz in Karabakh in the mountainous part of Karabakh.

With its colorful patterns and manufacturing technique, Zangazur and Nakhchivan are also included in Karabakh carpet school.

These carpet compositions feature classical patterns of Karabakh carpet-weaving school, including "Aran”, "Bagchadaguller", "Balıg", "Buynuz", "Barda", "Bahmanli", "Garabag", "Goja", "Gasımushagı", "Lambaran", "Mugan", "Talısh", "Lampa", "Malıbayli ", "Khangarvand", "Khanlıg", "Khantirma", "Chalabi", and "Shabalıdbuta".

With its rich colors, this carpet school  comprises all undertones of the nature of Karabakh. Besides various plants, these colors are gained from different kinds of insects. The most popular insect from which red color is produced is scale insect or red worm.

Amazon’s multi-million dollar TV version of “The Lord of the Rings” will launch in September 2022, Amazon Studios said, Report informs referring to Reuters.

The streaming platform said filming on the first season has wrapped in New Zealand, and it released the first images of the show.

“The journey begins September 2, 2022, with the premiere of our original The Lord of the Rings series on Prime Video,” Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, said in a statement.

Amazon is spending about $465 million filming the first season of the show, according to New Zealand government officials. It expects to make five seasons of the show, making it one of the most expensive TV series ever.

It said in a press release that the first season would be available in more than 240 nations, with new episodes released weekly.

The epic fantasy plot will take place thousands of years before the events narrated by writer J.R.R. Tolkien in his books “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings.”

Today marks the day of the establishment of Azerbaijani cinema.

Report informs that the first short, silent film of Azerbaijani cinematography ('You are caught') was demonstrated in Baku on August 2, 1898.

The first movies composed of chronicles ("Oil fountain fire in Bibi Heybat," "Balakhani oil fountain," "People walk in Garden City," "The Caucasian dance," etc.) and one feature plot ('You are caught') by photographer and writer Alexander Mishon.

In 1915, joint-stock companies, launched in the Caucasus by Pirone brothers (trading houses), had established rental offices in Baku, Tbilisi, Yerevan cities. The mentioned company shot the first Azerbaijani feature film, "Oil and country of millions," based on the same name novel of writer Ibrahim bey Musabayov. Boris Svetlov was invited from Petersburg. Nature scenes were shot in Baku and surrounding villages, pavilions in Tbilisi. Lutfeli bey role was played by Huseyn Arablinski. In 1916, the first Azerbaijani comedy film "Arshin mal alan" was produced in Baku based on the same name operetta of U. Hajibeyov. In 1919, 'Triumph' full-length movie was demonstrated to mark the anniversary of Azerbaijan's independence.

"Day of National Cinema of Azerbaijan" appeared in the calendar of official holidays of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2000, after on December 18, 2000, national leader Heydar Aliyev, taking into account the merits of Azerbaijani cultural workers in the development of national cinema, signed a decree "On the establishment of the Day of National Cinema"...

In 1998, Baku hosted the "Festival of Festivals," dedicated to the centenary of Azerbaijani cinema, attended by President Ilham Aliyev as an honorary guest.

The 12th Gabala International Music Festival has opened its doors to music lovers.

The festival gathers some of the country's most talented musicians to mark the 100th anniversary of Baku Music Academy.

The festival opened with spectacular concert that brought together students of Baku Music Academy Leyla Zeynalova (piano), Atabala Manafzade (piano), Jamil Sadizade (piano), Rashid Behbutov (piano), Jala Mayilova (piano), Osman Mustafazede (violin), Sabina Muradova (piano), Orkhan Huseynov (cello), Zarrin Aliyeva (violin), Aysel Abdullayeva (violin), Nigar Hasanli (viola), Nijat Mammadov (flute), Gulay Aghayeva (piano), Mehman Salimov (trumpet), Kanan Khalizade (clarinet), Nigar Askarova (vocal), Subkhan Rustamov (vocal) and Fagan Hasanli (piano) at the Heydar Aliyev Congress Hall. 

The festival's opening ceremony took place near Qafqaz Resort Hotel. The Azerbaijan Military Band Service also performed as part of the festival.

Elkhan Niftiyev (piano),Laman Seyidova (piano), Rza Khosrofzade (vocal), Mahir Taghizade (vocal),Erol Rzayev (cello), Arzu Safarova (piano), Fagan Hasanli (piano), Vusala Babayeva (piano) and others thrilled the audience on August 1, while Baku Chamber Orchestra performed next day.

Spectacular concerts left no one indifferent. Meanwhile, teachers of the Baku Music Academy will perform on August 2.

The 12th Gabala International Music Festival will close with a grand concert program called "Viva Opera" on August 4.

Gabala International Music Festival is an annual open-air festival of classical music held every summer since 2009 in Gabala.

Talented musicians from all over the world, world-known symphonic and philharmonic orchestras take part in the festival.

The festival initially positioned itself as a classical music festival. However, the festival's repertoire has eventually expanded. Now you can hear music of different genres, including jazz and mugham.

August 2 marks the National Cinema Day, the annual celebration of Azerbaijani cinema to honor directors, actors, cameramen, script writers and many others who contribute to the national cinematography. 

Day of the National Cinema is celebrated every year by the order of  Azerbaijan's national leader Heydar Aliyev, signed on 18 December, 2000. 

The first short, silent film of Azerbaijani cinematography "You are caught" was shown in Baku on August 2, 1898. 

On this day, the audience witnessed a historical event - the foundation of Azerbaijani cinematography. 

Nowadays, the country's film industry has entered a new stage of development.

Over the past year, Azerbaijani cinema has been successfully represented at the international festivals. Many initiatives and projects were carried out to promote Azerbaijani cinema worldwide. Let's take a look at highlights in 2021.

Film Agency

The Culture Ministry set up the Azerbaijan Filming Commission in June. 

The State Filming Commission focuses on promotion of Azerbaijan's film industry at international level. 

Azerbaijan can turn into a renewed film location for foreign filmmakers thanks to the country's historical and cultural monuments and beautiful landscapes. So, the filming in Azerbaijan may also contribute to the country's economy and tourism industry.

Production of patriotic films with Turkey

The film industry is one of the important areas of Azerbaijani-Turkish cultural cooperation. 

Azerbaijan and Turkey will further enhance cooperation in the film industry. The sides agreed on production of joint films and series dedicated to Azerbaijan's victory in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War. 

The sides also exchanged views on holding joint film festivals, cooperation between the public and private film organizations and cinematographers of the two countries.

Cooperation with Neflix

The Azerbaijan Culture Ministry has started a partnership with the world's leading streaming entertainment service Netflix.

The streaming service has over 195 million paid memberships in more than 190 countries enjoying TV series, documentaries and feature films across a wide variety of genres and languages.

Speaking about partnership, the Culture Minister Anar Karimov expressed his hope that Azerbaijan would successfully demonstrate its cinematography at the international level.

Major success at international festivals

Azerbaijani films have won a number of awards at many international festivals. 

"The Steppe Man" film (Cholchu) continues to enjoy major success at international festivals. Over the past years, the feature film has taken part in 136 festivals, winning over 80 prizes and awards in various categories. 

This time, the film directed by Shamil Aliyev has been named "Best Feature Film" at several festivals, including Brandenburg International Film Festival 2021 (Germany), Brooklyn International Cinefest 2021 (USA), Fiction Film Festival 2021 (Spain) and  Roshani (Reel) International Film Festival 2021 (India).

Meanwhile, the film was selected as the Azerbaijani entry for the "Best Foreign Language Film" at the 86th Academy Awards (the Oscars).

A feature film "Farida" has been screened at Cheboksary International Film Festival.

Actress Maryam Ibrahimova, who played the main character, has won the "Anna" prize for "Best female lead role" at the fiction film competition.

A documentary "Creators" has won a special jury prize at Vesuvius International Film Festival 2021, while Teymur Gambarov's short film "Gukhuroba" was named best at the Commonwealth International Film School of Young Cinematographers in Georgia. 

New virtual film platform

Narimanfilm Studio has recently launched an updated platform of Azerbaijani films for compatriots living abroad.

Now local films are available on new virtual platform Az Cinema Online aimed at promoting Azerbaijan's cinema, television and culture on international level.

In addition to domestic films, platform visitors can also watch films produced in Azerbaijan by foreign filmmakers and leave reviews. Moreover, cinema lovers are invited to join discussions with film critics.

The exhibition "Gems of Indian Cultural Heritage in Gobustan" has solemnly opened at the Gobustan State Historical and Artistic Reserve.

Co-organized by the Gobustan State Historical and Artistic Reserve and the Indian Embassy in Baku, the project aims at promoting cultural ties between Azerbaijan and India. 

The photo exposition presents Indian landmarks and famous monuments revealing its rich architectural heritage.  

In his remarks, the director of the Gobustan State Historical and Artistic Reserve Vugar Isayev stressed that the event was timed to the 75th anniversary of India's independence, which will be celebrated in 2022. He expressed confidence that the exhibition will give impetus to the further expansion of bilateral cultural ties. 

Indian Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Vanlalvavna Bavitlung, noted that this is a holiday of progressive India and the glorious history, culture and achievements of its people.

The head of the diplomatic mission expressed confidence that the exhibition will serve as a link between the rich cultural heritage of the two countries.

Aghajavid Ramazanov, representative of the State Service for the Protection, Development and Restoration of Cultural Heritage, noted that cultural heritage is an important source in the scientific study of the history of the people, state and civilizations.

He highly appreciated the organization of the exhibition in terms of the rapprochement of the cultures of the two countries and cooperation with India.

A video about the historical and cultural monuments of India was presented to the guests.

The opening of the exhibition ended with a buffet table. The guests were offered Azerbaijani national sweets and dishes of Indian national cuisine to the sounds of Indian national music.

The exhibition will run until the end of August.

Famous opera singer Yusif Eyvazov (tenor) has successfully performed at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg.

People's Artist of Azerbaijan played the role of Herman in Pyotr Tchaikovsky's opera "The Queen of Spades"

The opera is a classic short story by Aleksandr Pushkin, published in 1834.

The story was the basis of the operas "The Queen of Spades (1890)" by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, "La dame de pique (1850)" by Fromental Halévy and "Pique Dame (1864") by Franz von Suppé.

"This night was so special. Thanks the Mariinsky Theater for this great opportunity to make music with such a talented and great artists. Singing "Pique Dame" for me is always happiness and big challenge...," Eyvazov wrote on Instagram.

Known for his beautiful voice, Yusif Eyvazov is a regular guest at the world’s leading opera houses. His name is included in the book "The Best Tenors of the World".

The unique sound of his voice and his vibrant stage presence allow him to combine an active opera career with numerous concert performances.

The opera singer has appeared on numerous recordings for Deutsche Grammophon including a complete recording of Puccini’s "Manon Lescaut" live from the Salzburg Festival and with his spouse, soprano Anna Netrebko's on the cross-over album "Romanza".

In 2017, Yusif Eyvazov was awarded the title of People’s Artist of Azerbaijan.

As part of celebrations of 75 years of Independence of India or India@75, the Embassy of India, Baku in collaboration with the Gobustan National Historical Artistic Preserve organised a function to inaugurate the Indian Gallery which will host the exhibition of Indian monuments and heritage sites in the premises of Gobustan National Historical Artistic Preserve. Report informs, citing the Indian Embassy, that the exhibition is part of the celebrations of 75 years of Independence of India or India@75.

Speaking at the occasion, Ambassador of India B. Vanlalvawna said that Gobustan, which is one of Azerbaijan’s most iconic historical sites, was a very appropriate place to exhibit the 16 photo posters of some of India’s most famous historical monuments and sites. He said that the exhibits include the famous Taj Mahal, the Red Fort, temples of South India etc. and displaying them in Gobustan is a fitting tribute to these sites as like Gobustan, these monuments and sites are all among the 40 properties in India which have all been inscribed in UNESCO World Heritage list. Ambassador also said that the exhibits will introduce the rich cultural heritage of India to the visitors of Gobustan and at the same time, serve as a link between the shared rich cultural heritage which exists between our two countries.

Ambassador also spoke about the India@75 celebrations and said that India will complete 75 years as an independent nation on 15 August 2022 and the Government and people of India have commenced the celebrations of this important milestone since March of this year and this will go on for two more years till August 2023. He said that the celebrations under an initiative called Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav is a celebration to commemorate 75 years of progressive India and the glorious history of its people, culture and its standing as the largest democracy in the world.

The Ambassador also said that over the years India has become the fifth largest economy and an important contributor to the stability and growth of the global economy. Its significant growth in the agricultural sector and advancement in science and technology including IT and pharmaceutical sector are generally acknowledged in different parts of the world including in Azerbaijan. He praised the achievements of the Indian diaspora numbering more than 30 million all over the world who have achieved success in many fields and are positive contributors to the society they live in. Ambassador requested representatives of the media to join in promoting the various activities which are being planned for India@75.