Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

A film about the Armenian-committed Khojaly genocide of Azerbaijani civilians, one of the most heinous and bloodiest developments of the 20th century, was recently screened in the UK, Norway, the Netherlands and Turkey.

The Khoja movie's presentation at the cinema center of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) in London was held as part of the events dedicated to the 21st anniversary of the Khojaly tragedy.

Speaking at the event, First Secretary of the Azerbaijani Embassy in the UK Vusal Abdullayev said the Khoja movie plays an important role in the campaign of informing the international community about the crimes committed by Armenians.

He believes the movie should be screened not only on the eve of the tragedy, but year around in the UK.

The first full-length movie dedicated to the Khojaly genocide was shot by the director and head of the ANS TV channel Vahid Mustafayev in Azerbaijan in 2012. The movie describes the tragic fate of two young couples during the Karabakh war in the early 1990s.

The film was officially presented in Azerbaijan in February 2012, and then it was screened throughout the country. The free-of-charge screening of the movie took place in the Nizami Cinema of Baku on Tuesday.

The movie participated in international film festivals such as the Golden Orange in Antalya, 35th International Film Festival in Cairo, 56th London Film Festival and 65th Locarno Film Festival. The movie was also successfully screened in Bishkek, Cairo, Rotterdam, the Hague, Antalya, and Oslo.

On February 25-26, 1992, Armenian invading forces jointly with the 366th infantry regiment of Soviet troops committed a massacre of residents of the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly. 613 people were killed, including 106 women, 70 elderly and 83 children. A total of 1,000 civilians were disabled. Eight families were exterminated, 130 children lost one parent and 25 lost both. Additionally, 1,275 innocent people were taken hostage, while the fate of 150 remains unknown.