Azernews.Az

Laman Ismayilova

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The fourth edition of the Salam International Youth Film Festival came to a close, Azernews reports.

The festival was organised by Narimanfilm production company with the support of the Azerbaijan Culture Ministry and the Azerbaijan Film Agency, as well as with the organisational assistance of the Nizami Cinema Centre. It was held under the main sponsorship of PASHA Holding.

On the final day of the four-day fourth edition of the Salam BYFF, the Retrospective program featured a screening of the feature film My Name is Koja (Kazakhstan, 1964, directed by Abdulla Karsakbayev), which won Best Children's Film at the 1964 Cannes Film Festival.

The screening was followed by a meeting with the director's family members—Mahira Karsakbayeva and Musa Karsakbayev. Afterwards, an excursion to the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum was organised for the festival's international guests.

Following lunch, Iro Riga's short documentary Festivals are the Key (Greece, 2025) was screened. The day continued with the presentation of short films created by young participants during the Cinemarathon workshop (mentors: Qurban Bunyatov, Eldar Albertson, and Leylakhanum Qanbarli). These screenings evoked strong emotions among the children.

Later, the festival's Art Director, Leyla Dostalizade, expressed gratitude to the sponsors, mentors, volunteers, and the Salam team before inviting Program Director Nargiz Bagirzade to announce the winners of the competition program, as determined by the youth jury. The award for Best Feature Film was presented to Dancing Queen in Hollywood (Aurora Gosse, Norway, 2025), while the Jury's Special Award went to You Are Here, You Were Here (Kousuke Sakoda, Japan, 2019).

The festival's founder and CEO, Nariman Mammadov, personally presented the award to Japanese director Kousuke Sakoda, who shared his warm impressions and expressed his gratitude. Director Orkhan Aghazade's film Return of the Projectionist (France, Germany, 2024) received the Festival's Special Award, which was presented to the film's director of photography, Daniel Guliyev, and first AD, Leylakhanum Qanbarli.

Following the award ceremony, CEO Nariman Mammadov officially declared the fourth edition of the Salam BYFF closed.

Thus, the fourth Salam BYFF, containing four days filled with unforgettable emotions and a festive atmosphere for all participants, concluded with a vibrant musical entertainment program.

Media partners of the event are Azernews.Az, Trend.Az, Day.Az, and Milli.Az