Azernews.Az

A documentary film "The Son" about the fate of Azerbaijani soldier Natig Gasimov, who was captured by Armenians during the first Garabagh War, has been shown in the cinema hall of the British Academy of Film Awards (BAFTA) in London.

The event was organized by the British European Azerbaijan School and supported by the Azerbaijani Embassy to the United Kingdom, Azernews reports.

Numerous representatives of the diplomatic corps, public and political figures, members of Azerbaijani, Turkish, and other communities, and journalists took part in the event.

The teacher of the British European Azerbaijan School, Rauf Khalilov, opened the event.

The Azerbaijani Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Elin Suleymanov, expressed his gratitude to the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, TEAS Press Publishing House, the Executive Director of the film Tale Heydarov, as well as the teachers of the British European Azerbaijan School, Sabina Rakcheyeva and Sabina Guliyeva, for the organisation of the event.

In his speech, the ambassador emphasised that the bravery shown by Natig Gasimov is an example of heroism and that the film is of great importance in order to keep his memory alive and to convey the truth about the Garabagh War to the world community.

The ambassador noted that the memory of the victims of the Khojaly tragedy was commemorated together with the members of the Azerbaijani community in recent days and emphasised that such difficult moments are part of the new history of Azerbaijan.

He also stressed the importance of countries that are friends and partners of Azerbaijan understanding this.

At the same time, the ambassador recalled the opinion of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, that we should close the page of history related to the conflict, and emphasized that after the liberation of the Azerbaijani lands from occupation, a historical opportunity arose for the establishment of peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

He emphasised the importance of conducting direct bilateral negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia and drew attention to the fact that there are those who want to hinder this process from outside.

Film director Karan Singh said that he was very impressed by the photos taken by Italian photographer and journalist Enrico Sarsini of Natig Gasimov while he was in captivity, and the idea of making the film came from there. He talked about the filming process of the film and interviews with live witnesses of the event.

He said that the scene that affected him the most during the filming process was the tears of Natig Gasimov's mother.

In his speech, the film producer Ekard Sager outlined that Azerbaijan has already freed its lands from occupation. He noted that all conditions have been created for the return of hundreds of thousands of IDPs, including Natig Gasimov's family, to their native lands.

In his speech, he drew attention to the fact that more than 1.5 million mines were buried in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan during the occupation.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr

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