Azerbaijan's patriotic films on realities of 44-day second Karabakh war

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijan's victory in the Second Karabakh War has been reflected in the local film industry products. Many patriotic films have been made since Azerbaijan liberated its territories from the Armenian occupation.

Among them are documentaries such as "Shusha, you are free!", "We", "Fulya" and others. The films eventually caught public attention. All documentaries perfectly convey the realities of war and showed the national heroes, whose exceptional courage knows no boundaries.

The documentary film "Shusha, you are free!" (2021) was co-produced by the Baku Media Center and Salnamafilm studio with the support of the Azerbaijani Culture Ministry.

A special film crew was sent to the combat zone to film the historical moments of the Shusha liberation. The film shows real scenes of battles that have never been seen before.

The film provides insight into some interesting details of Operation Shusha, one of the brightest pages of modern military history.

It also contains interviews with Azerbaijani valiant soldiers and officers - participants in the operation and exclusive footage taken during the battles for the city of Shusha.

The film director is Javidan Sharifov with producers Nazim Huseynov and Orman Aliyev.

Another historical documentary, titled "We" tells about the bravery of the servicemen, who fought on the front for 44 days.

The film reflects the patriotic spirit of Azerbaijani soldiers and ordinary citizens during the war, their emotions, experiences, and most importantly, the absolute confidence of every Azerbaijani man and woman in victory. The documentary features interviews with Azerbaijani citizens, whose videos, photos, and statuses have become the most discussed on the social network.

In the film, they share their experiences and memories. In mid-October, the film was awarded a special jury prize at the 6th International Festival of Documentary Films of the Turkic World in Istanbul.

The author of the idea and the director of the film is Orman Aliyev, the producer is the director of the Azerbaijanfilm studio Fariz Ahmadov.

The documentary "Fulya" produced jointly by AzerbaijanFilm studio(Azerbaijan) and Dada Yap?m company (Turkiye) also aroused great interest and touched the hearts of film viewers.

The film tells about military reporter Fulya Ozturk of CNN-Turk TV channel, who played a major role in conveying the truth about the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War to the world.

The filming process started in June at CNN Turk headquarters in Istanbul and continued in Ganja, Tartar, Barda, and Fuzuli.

The filming team includes film directors Aykut Tashkin and Tahir Tahirovich, the cameraman - Cengizhan Durmaz with producers- Ozcan Dada and Fariz Ahmadov. The documentary was shown in Turkiye and Azerbaijan.

More patriotic films are coming soon to the big screen. The filming of the series "Karabakh Patriotic War" is expected to start in March 2023. The film project will consist of eight episodes.

Head of the Culture Ministry's Audiovisual and Interactive Media Department Rufat Hasanov said at a press conference that the filming process will take place in Baku, Ganja, Shusha, Fuzuli, Guba, Ismayilli, Dashkasan, Shamakhi, Gabala, Khizi districts, and Hadrut settlement.

The technical and creative teams for the film production have been already formed.

"The implementation of projects, such as this 8-episode film, is of great importance. We have won a glorious victory in the 44-day Patriotic War, but the information war still continues. For us, the important point is that as many people as possible be informed at the international level", said Rufat Hasanov.

The Culture Ministry has not decided yet which platform to use for the film screening. It can be an online platform or a TV channel. Now, the Culture Ministry also plans to broadcast the film on a large international platform.