ANIMAFILM Festival, with support from the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan, presented the following famous animated films of Azerbaijan at the AnimaSyros International Animation Festival in Greece on September 20, 2019 as a tribute to the 50th anniversary of Azerbaijani animation:
- Jirtdan (dir. Aghanaghi Akhundov, Yalchin Efendiyev), 1969
- Ms. Beetle and Mr. Mouse (dir. Masud Panahi, Aghanaghi Akhundov), 1974
- Jırtdan the Giant (first film) (dir. Bahman Aliyev), 1981
- Mother on a Tree (dir. Frangiz Kurbanova), 1986
- Dedication (dir. Shamil Najafzada), 1990
- Dispute of the Fruits (dir. Elchin Hami Akhundov), 1994
- Continuity (dir. Samir Salahov), 2017
The program was presented by ANIMAFILM’s director Rashid Aghamaliyev and was received with great interest.
“On behalf of the ANIMAFILM Festival team, I want to express gratitude that you invited us to this beautiful event and celebrated the 50th anniversary of Azerbaijani animation with us! It is an honor to us that AnimaSyros was the first festival which helped us promote and celebrate Azerbaijani animation on an international level. I hope it is only the beginning of a strong friendship and productive partnership between our festivals!” said festival director R. Aghamaliyev, presenting a Certificate of Appreciation and a copy of the book Azerbaijani Animation to Stephen Alan, the programmer of AnimaSyros Festival.
Tributes to the 50th anniversary of Azerbaijani animation are also planned to be held in Georgia (TOFUZI Festival), Poland (StopTrik Festival), and Switzerland (Black Movie Festival). A celebration of the anniversary will also take place in Azerbaijan during the 2nd ANIMAFILM Festival in October 2019.
The 2nd ANIMAFILM International Animation Festival will take place in Baku on October 18 – 20, 2019 with support from the Azerbaijan Union of Filmmakers (key partner), Embassy of the Czech Republic in Azerbaijan and The Institut Français in Azerbaijan.
A number of international and local animated films will be presented to children and adults during the three days of the festival. This festival is an annual event promoting the art of animation that began with the 1st ANIMAFILM International Animation Festival in 2018.
