Azernews.Az

By Sabina Idayatova

The opening ceremony of the 4th European Film Festival was held in Baku on October 30.

The Festival is organized by the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan, the embassies of the EU member states and "Park Cinema" network.

The festival serves to further strengthen cultural ties between the EU and Azerbaijan, Charge d'Affaires of the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan Toralf Pilz said at a press-conference.

"The festival provides the European Union members with a chance to present their history, culture, and traditions to the Azerbaijani public," Pilz said.

The event was attended by Park Cinema director Namig Guliyev, and Director of the movie "A One-way Trip to Antibes" Richard Hobert.

Guliyev noted that about 4000 people watched the films of the last year's festival, and about 5500-6000 people are expected this year.

The European Film Festival 2013 includes the screening of 17 films from Europe (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Sweden, and the United Kingdom) and Azerbaijan, and will offer an opportunity for a discourse about the shown movies between movie experts and interested audience.

Estonia, Finland, and Croatia will participate in the festival for the first time.

The audience will be given an opportunity to participate in interactive discussions with the honored guests.

Another novelty of the festival is that it will take place in three cinema centers in Baku: Park Cinema in Park Boulevard, Park Cinema of the Metro Park, and Nizami Cinema Center.

The European Film Festivals are annually organized by the EU Delegation in Azerbaijan, and serve to endorse and strengthen the cultural links between the European Union countries and Azerbaijan, which contributes to the expansion of European values.