― 8 октября 2023 г.

Third "Korkut Ata Film Festival" in Baku

The official opening ceremony of the Third Korkut Ata Film Festival of the Turkic World  held at the Heydar Aliyev Centre gathered TURKSOY Deputy Secretary General Sayit Yusuf, the Deputy Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan Ferit Jafarov, the  Ambassador of the Republic of Türkiye to Baku H. E. Mr. Cahit Bagci and the President of the  Film Agency of Azerbaijan Jamil Guliyev along with  many  guests from Azerbaijan and over 100 film professionals from TURKSOY member countries who came to Azerbaijan for the Festival.

In  the opening speech he delivered at the  event, Mr. Ferit Jafarov, the Deputy Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan expressed his pleasure as to the fact  that the Korkut Ata  Film Festival of the Turkic World coincided with the 125th anniversary of the Azerbaijani Cinema. Deputy Minister Jafarov also expressed his confidence that the project implemented in cooperation with TURKSOY will pave the way for  new partnerhips of cooperation in the field of cinema.

Commenting on the festival, TURKSOY Deputy Secretary General Sayit Yusuf said that since its establishment TURKSOY has been promoting the cultural heritage of the Turkic World both within the Turkic World as well as on a global scale and has been  carrying out and supporting activities  and projects aimed at fostering cultural development.

Deputy Secretary General Yusuf further noted that the aim of the Korkut Ata  Film Festival of the Turkic World  is to promote the art of cinema of the  Turkic World as a specific dimension of culture  and introduce it to countries and peoples worldwide while also strengthening  cooperation within the Turkic World in this field. Stating that cinema is one of the most effective tools in the world in terms of cultural diplomacy, Deputy Secretary General Yusuf said, "Our aim in  initiating and  carrying out this festival is to make sure that the Turkic World has its say in the field of cinema worldwide while also  promoting  our civilisation in terms of the reflection of its cultural heritage  through the art of  cinema."

Addressing the participants at the opening of the event, Deputy Secretary General Sayit Yusuf stressed the importance of cinema for the Turkic World and underlined that the directors, producers and actors present in the hall have important duties, especially in terms of the promotion and correct use of Turkish language.  In the conclusion  of his speech, Deputy Secretary General Yusuf expressed his gratitude to the Ministry of Culture of  Azerbaijan for its hospitality.

The festival, organised in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan, with the Heydar Aliyev Centre as well as with  TURKSOY, the Film Agency of Azerbaijan and the Baku Media Centre  took place between October 8th-11th, 2023  and featured approximately 40  films, documentaries and animated films produced in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye, the Autnonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia (Moldova), Tatarstan (RF), Altai (RF) and Bashkortostan (RF).
 

All films screened at the  Nizami Cinema Centre in Baku were  free of charge.

The festival, which  also included a trip to Shusha, the Cultural Capital of the Turkic World in 2023,  ended  with a red carpet event on  October 11th, 2023.

The programme of the festival also included special events such as competitions in the cinema and documentary categories and the Turkic World Cinema Forum,  held with the participation of cinema professionals.  While the first  edition of the "Korkut Ata Film Festival"  of the Turkic World was held in Istanbul in 2021  the second one had been held in Bursa in 2022.