Valery Shekhovtsov: "Those who saw Javid Imamverdiev’s film immediately wanted to visit Baku"

This year, the festival of documentary films of the CIS countries Eurasia.DOC will be held for the fourth time. The films not only from the Commonwealth countries but also from other countries will be presented there, a Russian journalist, producer, director, director of the festival, Valery Shekhovtsov told Vestnik Kavkaza.

"I am very pleased that this festival gathers professional colleagues. I am very glad that there is a representative of Azerbaijan in this social circle, my good friend, a wonderfully creative person, not only a documentary director but also famous bard Javid Imamverdiev. He has already twice participated in our festival, and is well-known in Russia ", Shekhovtsov said.

He addressed Imamverdiyev through Vestnik Kavkaza: “Javid, I am glad that there is an opportunity to appeal to you. We love you very much, you are the life of the party. The years you participated, you managed to gather people from different countries,  former Soviet republics. We are all impressed by your charm and charisma. And you are welcome to participate in our next festivals."

A philologist and a graduate of Baku State University, Javid Imamverdiev, is not only a director and producer but also a poet, author-performer, a member of the Baku Author Song Club and the Grushinsky Festival.

Valery Shekhovtsov said that for the first time Imamverdiyev participated in the "Eurasia.DOC festival with the film "Hero Buried in a Foreign Land”. it tells about the fate of the Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel Gabibulla Huseynov, who died in World War II, and his family’s history: "This film is about an Azerbaijani who participated in the war and was buried in one of the Baltic States, because he died there, took his last fight there. It is a very touching film. It was also shown in Minsk, where the hero studied at a military school. "

“The second film is dedicated mainly to Baku and the whole of Azerbaijan as well. The film is called Peace to Your Home. ”It is dedicated to the peaceful coexistence of Christian, Muslim, Jewish confessions in Azerbaijan. The film is very beautifully shot. Baku is handsome. After watching the film, those who have never been there immediately wanted to see this city. By the way, I am one of them. I’ve never been to Baku, I hope that someday I will go there. I will be happy to see my friends - hospitable residents of Baku, Azerbaijanis. Let's hope that films from Azerbaijan will be presented at our festival. We are opening the submissions season. Therefore, you are welcome! "

Valery Shekhovtsov added that at the previous festivals, films from Armenia, Georgia, and also from the North Caucasus were presented.

The festival format involves not only film screenings, but also round tables to discuss the issues relevant to the CIS countries and the entire post-Soviet space. At the Moscow-Minsk videoconference dedicated to the 4th Eurasia.DOC CIS Documentary Film Festival, Shekhovtsov said: "We started it as a festival of primarily political cinema, but during these four years, the festival began to set its own terms. The festival prompted its logic of development, and we expanded the genre of films, moving away from hard political cinema. We select films the topics of which are directly or indirectly relevant to the public political life of the CIS countries, this can be internal CIS problems, it may be a question of our common history and culture, even the Syrian issues that affect our entire post-Soviet space. "

"From the very first year, the festival became international. We do not limit ourselves to the territory. Our colleagues from the USA, Italy, Germany participated in the festival. This is a festival without borders ... The films of the festival are divided into categories: society, politics, culture, history, people. Very touching human stories were presented at the last festival. It is very pleasant that not only masters from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, other countries, but young authors participated as well. We were touched by some of their films.”