Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

The documentary "My Kith and Kin" by Azerbaijani film director Rodion Ismailov, a film about the journey of a child through her home country, was declared the best film at the 4th International Tourist Film Festival Meeting with Russia in the city of Tula on September 27-30.

The documentary was chosen the best in the Russia and Abroad nomination.

The festival is aimed at increasing public interest in the natural, historical and cultural sites of Russia, to strengthen and develop the cultural and creative links between Russia and foreign filmmakers working in the genre of tourism film.

"My Kith and Kin" also received the best full-length documentary film award at the 23rd international film festival "Message to Man" held in Saint Petersburg, Russia's second largest city, on September 21-28.

The film was also included in the competition program of the international film festival "Filmfest Eberswalde" to be held in Germany on October 5-12.

The film director, while participating at the Filmfest Eberswalde, told Azernews that he could not imagine that his film would have "such a rich festival fate".

"After all, I did not make it for the sake of festivals. But nevertheless, I am pleased that the film is in demand at the festivals, that it is successfully competing with the best movies and receiving awards," Ismailov said.

Regarding expectations for future festivals, Ismailov hopes to make new friends, meet film directors and see the best movies of the past years. He said for him it is very important to know the current trends in the documentary film industry.

Asked about the upcoming festivals in Croatia, Turkey, Georgia, and Argentina, Ismailov said he has a number of attractive topics related to Azerbaijan and he is looking for funding for these projects.

"As I said earlier, Azerbaijan is a new region which is known little in the world, and I would like to tell as much as possible about its people, their customs and traditions," he said.

The storyline of "My Kith and Kin" is based on the first visit by lead character Lolita to Azerbaijan. Lolita personifies two cultures, as her mother is Russian and her father is Azerbaijani.

This delicate and compelling story describes a ten-year-old girl who comes to Azerbaijan for the first time to be acquainted with her father's relatives. Lolita aspires to learn about the culture and traditions of her Azerbaijani family members.

The 63-minute long film of the DS FILM Production Center was made with the support of the Ministry of Culture of Russia in the Tovuz region of Azerbaijan. Camera operator of the film is Mikhail Gorobchuk, music was composed by Vladimir Kuptsov, and the producers are Rodion Ismailov and Svetlana Dalskaya.

The film won "The best anthropologic film" award at the eighth Open Russian Anthropological Film Festival (RAFF) in April and was nominated for "Best Documentary" at the eleventh Almaty International Film Festival "Shaken's Stars".

The film was also shown at the international documentary film festival "Visions du Réel" ("The images of reality") in Nyon, Switzerland, in April.