President Aliyev signs Order on development of Azerbaijani cinematography

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

President Ilham Aliyev has signed an order on the development of Azerbaijani cinematography.

The order aims to boost the government's commitment to culture, preserve traditions of the Azerbaijani cinematography and modernize the country's film industry.

Under the Order, the Ministry of Culture is allocated 5 million manats  to support creative activity of young cinematographers.

Azerbaijan has a long and rich history of cinema. Nowadays Azerbaijani films are well known are well known worldwide and range from documentary to feature films. 

Countless national full-length and short films are now screened at various international film festivals. 

When the Lumière brothers of France premiered their first motion picture footage in 1895, little did they know how rapidly it would ignite a new age of photographic documentation. The brothers invented an apparatus "Cinématographe", patented in February 1895. This apparatus soon showed up in Baku at the turn of the 19th century, when the developing oil industry attracted foreigners eager to invest and to work.

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

So, the audience witnessed the birth of Azerbaijani cinematography. To honor this historical day, August 2 was declared as professional holiday of cinema workers – Day of Azerbaijani Cinema.

Azerbaijan’s first feature film "The Reign of Oil and Millions" was produced in 1915. The film is based on M. Musabayov’s novel of the same name.

A year later Svetlov directed the first musical comedy "Arshin mal alan" by Uzeir Hajibayli. It was a silent movie and the musical parts were performed by indoor musicians and female roles were played by men.

In 1922, the government of Azerbaijan decided to create the first cinema factory which became the forerunner of today's film studio Azerbaijanfilm.

A State program on developing Azerbaijani cinema for the years 2008-2018 is currently aiding in the expansion of modern national cinema.

Azerbaijani cinema enjoys huge recognition at international film festivals, which frequently award the national films.