The Exam

Pomegranate Orchard

July 2017 •Azerbaijani

Inspired by Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, the film follows a prodigal son who returns after 12 years. His reappearance at the family home in rural Azerbaijan significantly alters their way of life.

You Can't Take an Island with You

September 1980 •Azerbaijani

A young girl is trying to save an island which is endangered by nearby construction.

The Devil under the Windshield

July 1988 •Azerbaijani

A journalist is investigating a group of poachers who are illegally selling the huge amounts of fish

On Distant Shores

August 1958 •Azerbaijani

The film portrays the life of the legendary Azerbaijani guerrilla of the Second World War Mehdi Huseynzadeh, who fought the Nazi forces in the present-day Italy and Slovenia, hence the film's name On distant shores referring to the Adriatic Sea.

Beast

January 1994 •Azerbaijani

The movie tells about the tragedy of miserable people who turned to dogs. A group of people who desperately seeks for a job is abducted and forced to labor like slaves.

The Labour and Rose

December 1962 •Azerbaijani

The film is about famous Chechen ballet and folk dancer Mahmud Essembayev's life.

Matteo Falcone

January 1960 •Azerbaijani

Matteo Falcone is an Azerbaijani short drama film based on Prosper Merimée's like-named story from 1829. Matteo Falcone is a successful Corsican, who lives with his wife Giuseppa and 10-year-old son Fortunato. One day he leaves home with Giuseppa, leaving Fortunato alone.

Down the River

December 2014 •Azerbaijani

Young Ruslan rows for a team coached by his father Ali, who places many demands upon his son and is continually dissatisfied by his performance. But when tragedy strikes, his father is overcome with emotions he doesn’t know how to deal with. Debut director Asif Rustamov treats the heavy topic with remarkable subtlety and discretion, emphasizing the characters’ carefully elaborated psychology.

The Hostage

January 2005 •Azerbaijani

During the late 1980s and early 1990s the Armenian minority in Nagorono-Karabakh attempted to break away from Azerbaijan, one of the former Soviet republics. Overnight these former neighbors became enemies, and simple village folk were suddenly made hostages in a complex power game. One of the Azerbaijani villages right on the border is home to the family of the peasant farmer Kerim, who has just been captured by the Armenians. The village council decides to take an Armenian in order to arrange a hostage exchange. They imprison the wounded man in the barn next to Kerim's house, where his wife and three children desperately await the husband's return. The captive from the other side of the border finds himself in exactly the same situation - he, too, has three children, he finds it hard to scrape a living together, he has never done anything to harm anyone and, like Kerim, he just wants to go back home. But life in Karabakh is far more complex now. Blood calls for blood.

The Twenty Six Comissars

February 1966 •Azerbaijani

The film is about dramatic revolutionary events happened in 1918 in Baku.

I Compose a Song

June 1978 •Azerbaijani

A story about ten years old Sona - a very talented young singer whose parents are not so happy about her singing.

In a Southern Town

January 1969 •Azerbaijani

Murad, a young man, lives by the old ethical norms that are still valid in the suburbs of his city. He had promised Tofig, his childhood friend, to give him his sister as a wife, but Tofig is in love with another girl. He forgets the promise and takes the girl home. Murad is offended. According to the code of honor, he must take revenge. One of the first films ever produced in the Soviet Union to challenge the sociopolitical establishment.

Two Boys from the Same District

February 1957 •Azerbaijani

The Last Night of Childhood

December 1968 •Azerbaijani

Murad, a young man fails the entrance exam to the Institute and starts working at the meat factory. His cousin Rustam, a worker on a building site, fights with him against the dishonest people who sell pieces of meat from the factory. After a series of dramatic situations, Murad and Rustam manage to uncover the thieves.

From Two Worlds as a Keepsake

January 2012 •English

In Soviet Azerbaijan, a divorced Armenian couple fights over the custody of their daughter, Ashen. Stolen from one parent to another, Ashen's guardians are tragically killed in the bloody war surrounding them. Will the arrival of a new savior finally bring Ashen freedom? Official selection of the Global Lens Collection presented by the Global Film Initiative.

Shared Bread

October 1969 •Azerbaijani

While there is famine during WW2, a boy with mom far away, tries to stay strong.

The Peasants

December 1939 •Azerbaijani

My Seven Sons

September 1970 •Azerbaijani

This film was based on Samad Vurgun's "Komsomol poem". Seven sons, like seven samurai become the seven komsomols (communist leaders) who were sent to a village to establish Soviet power. Seven sons become the romanticized images of people's heroes ready to take revenge.

The Silver Truck

September 1982 •Azerbaijani

Madina is a young married woman who is mentally strong despite the problems she encounters.She has no children and her relationship with her husband is bad, although he loves her.She makes carpets which is a way for her to express her feelings. One day, she meets a man working in a circus. She gets to know him better and becomes transformed by him as he helps her improve her husband and the carpets she creates.

The Red Train

January 1993 •Azerbaijani