National film named best at int'l festivals

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

A documentary "The Last One" has been named best in Belarus. The film won Genre Loyalty Award at Minsk International Film Festival Listapad.

Listapad Film Festival is the biggest and high-status cinema event held annually in November.

The festival's main competitions focus on new films created in former socialistic countries, including CIS countries, Central and South-East Asia, Baltic, Eastern and Central Europe.

The documentary also won Kazimierz Karabasz Award at Media Festival Man in Danger in Poland.

The festival is an annual event in Lodz, which awards  documentary films, TV reports and radio reports. The festival has been taking place since 1990.

"The Last One" is about the last inhabitant of the Kurdili island, Vitaly Pronin. In 1981, as a result of rising water levels in the Caspian Sea, Kurdili, once a bustling island, became uninhabitable. Most of the population moved from the island. No one lived there anymore except for 68-years-old Vitaly.

The film was produced by the Baku Media Center and "Salnamefilm" studio with the support of the Azerbaijan Culture Ministry.

Executive producer of the film is Arzu Aliyeva, producers - Orman Aliyev and Nazim Huseynov, film director-Fariz Ahmadov,  scriptwriters - Esmira Ayyub and Fariz Ahmadov, cinematographer -Mateusz Czuchnowski.

After its premiere at the Rotterdam International Film Festival 202, the documentary  has been presented at prestigious festivals.

The film won Golden Maple Award for Best Documentary at the 15th Jahorina Film Festival in Bosnia and Herzegovina.