Azerbaijan’s first animated film restored

Together with the Kino Klassika Foundation operating in Great Britain, the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan, producer-restorer Daniel Bird and Fixafilm operating in Poland, we breathed new life into the first children’s animated film shot at the “Azerbaijanfilm” film studio.

We are talking about the restoration of the 1969 film “Jirtdan” using modern methods.

The following is written about this film in the book “Azerbaijani animation”:

The directors of the “Jirtdan” film (1969) are Aghanaghi Akhundov and Yalchin Efendiyev. As for the descriptive solution of the film, the interesting aspect is that the authors used Azerbaijani carpet stylistics in the film. The characters, objects, and backgrounds in this animated film are all made in the “carpet” style. A cinematic style used here — the carpet-motive background was often out of focus in order not to interfere with the objects and characters. The composer of the film, Ogtay Zulfugarov, has thought out and prepared an exquisite national music theme in which the tar (Azerbaijani string instrument – red.) is played together with western musical instruments. Because of its innovative style, “Jirtdan” never gets old and can be interesting to modern audiences.

It should be noted that the entire restoration process took about three years and ended in September of this year; and the restored “Jirtdan” premiered in the highest possible quality (DCP format) at the 5th ANIMAFILM festival. A restored version of the film is available on the UK-based streaming service Klassiki, so it is expected to be featured at other international festivals after being released on Klassiki.

You can read additional information about the film here.

The “Klassiki” platform also features an interactive 4-minute restoration diary, allowing you to follow the restoration: click here.

We express our sincere thanks to all the people who made this project possible:

– Rufat Hasanov, Head of the Audiovisual and Interactive Media Department of the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan – for making the impossible possible;

– Daniel Bird, producer-restorer and film historian – for his vision and dedication;

– Justine Waddell, head of the Kino Klassika Foundation – for believing in this project and making it happen;

– Łukasz Ceranka, Andrzej Łucjanek and the entire FixaFilm team – for excellent technical execution;

– Elchin Hami Akhundov – for supervising the color correction process;

– to the collective of the Azerbaijan State Film Fund – for the preservation of the national cinema heritage and for the help provided;

Finally, we would like to mention that we would like to dedicate this restoration to Hafiz Akbarov, who was the project manager of “Jirtdan” and later became one of the most prominent animation directors of Azerbaijan. Sadly, he passed away in March of this year.

Sincerely,

Rashid Agamaliyev

Chairman of Azerbaijan Animation Association

Founder and director of ANIMAFILM International Animation Festival