Azerbaijani cinema to be showcased at Lendoc Film Festival in Russia

Azerbaijani cinema art will be showcased at the 5th - Lendoc Film Festival (LEFF) to be held in Russia on August 23-27, Azernews reports.

Lendoc Film Festival is an international film festival held in St. Petersburg since 2020 on the basis of the Lendoc Open Film Studio

The event is aimed at supporting and developing interest in the cultural and ethnic wealth and diversity of the regions of Russia, CIS countries and neighboring countries, as well as creating joint film projects.

The festival guests are expected to include representatives of Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Iraq, India, Iran, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

On August 27, the jury, which includes heads of federal channels, digital platforms, film distribution companies, as well as heads of state film enterprises of the CIS countries, will conduct the pitching of joint production projects. The presenter of the pitch will be Ivan Kudryavtsev, director of cinema channels of Digital Television JSC.

In the final pitching, contracts will be signed on the co-production of winning projects that will receive producer support.

Lendok film studio also prepared a series of round tables and master classes with the participation of film industry professionals for young filmmakers and guests of the festival.

Among them, Ali Khamrayev's master class, "The road to the debut" and "Documentary films in the broadcasting era: what films are needed today?"

The festival program also includes round tables and creative meetings with producer and cameraman Alexander Rubanov.

In the festival's three competition programs - fiction, non-fiction and Lendocstart student film competition, the jury and audience will evaluate 36 films, including a number of world and Russian premieres. Screenings will take place in Lendok Cinema Studio, Aurora, Dom Kino and Rodina cinemas, Lenfilm cinema center and Capella.

In 2024, the festival announced an international competition for the second time, and the organizers received over 700 applications from Russia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Spain, Italy, Israel, and Argentina.

The Lendocstart student film competition is taking place for the first time this year and includes 14 screenplays in two blocks divided into six feature films and eight documentaries.

All festival screenings are free for spectators, and registration is available on the website from August 14.