French filmmakers shooting film on Azerbaijani tolerance
By Nigar Orujova
French filmmakers with the support of Azerbaijan's State Committee for Work with Diaspora are shooting a film about Azerbaijani tolerance.
The French film crew has carried out filming in the capital Baku and Azerbaijani regions.
The film's director Murielle Levy said that she was amazed by the hospitality and sincerity of the people in Azerbaijan. According to her, the attention paid to the history, culture and religion of the Jews strikes the eye.
The film crew has visited Oguz and Guba regions densely populated by Jews. Levy said the movie that they are shooting will be on display in the French capital and regions at museums and exhibitions.
The film operator Rob Silvon and sound engineer Christophe Debre, who arrived in Azerbaijan for the first time, were also amazed with the beauty of the country and the hospitality of Azerbaijanis.
Photo journalist Alain Azria was impressed with the beauty of Azerbaijan. He also noted that Jews are living safe and sound in the country.
The film will be shown to the viewers in October this year.
The Azerbaijani and Jewish peoples have a long tradition of tolerance and interaction. Though Jews have experienced many waves of persecution in different parts of the world, Azerbaijan is a unique place where they were allowed to preserve their religion and identity.
Historically Jews in Azerbaijan have been represented by various subgroups, mainly Mountain Jews, Ashkenazi Jews and Georgian Jews.
Jews are believed to have lived in Azerbaijan since the 5th century BCE. By the 17th century, Jewish villages formed a band of settlements from Derbent (now in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Dagestan) to the northern region of Quba. Jewish artisans, silk weavers, gardeners and merchants contributed significantly to the economy of the area.
During the Soviet times, Jewish activism increased in Azerbaijan. An Azerbaijan-Israel Friendship Society was established in 1990. Major figures of Azerbaijani culture and academics became board members of the organization.
As of 2010, the total Jewish population in Azerbaijan was 6,400. Jews mainly reside in Baku, Sumgayit, Guba, Oguz, Goychay and Qırmızı Qesebe, the only town in the world where Mountain Jews constitute the majority.
Many world-renowned Jewish intellectuals, artists and sportsmen hail from Azerbaijan, including Mirza Khazar, an eminent Azerbaijani author, political analyst, legendary anchorman, radio journalist, publisher, translator of The New Testament into the Azerbaijani language; Nobel Prize winning physicist Lev Landau; pianist Bella Davidovich; singers Sarit Hadad and Ella Leya, writer Lev Nussimbaum, CEO of Nika Award Yuli Gusman, and National Hero of Azerbaijan Albert Agarunov.
Israel was one of the first countries to recognize the independence of Azerbaijan.