Today marks 128 years since the creation of Azerbaijani national cinema. By the Decree of National Leader Heydar Aliyev dated December 18, 2000, August 2 is solemnly celebrated as the professional holiday of cinema workers – Azerbaijan Cinema Day.
Sea-news.az reports that the foundation of our national cinema was laid in Baku on August 2, 1898 – just two years after the first film screening held in France. Alexander Michon, the secretary of the Baku Scientific and Photographic Society, publisher, and photographer, demonstrated his documentary chronicles on the marine and oil industry, such as “Fire of the Oil Fountain in Bibi-Heybat,” “The Send-off Ceremony of His Highness the Emir of Bukhara,” and “Caucasian Dance,” as well as his fictional plot titled “You Are Caught.” This historical day is considered the beginning of our national cinema chronicle.
At the beginning of the last century, foreign film companies such as “Pathé,” “Pirone,” and “Filma,” taking into account the attractiveness of the Caspian Sea and Baku as an industrial center, opened their branches here. In 1916, the feature film “In the Kingdom of Oil and Millions” based on the novel by Ibrahim bey Musabeyov, and in 1917, “Arshin Mal Alan” based on the operetta by Uzeyir Hajibeyov, were screened.
In 1923, the Azerbaijan Photo-Cinema Department (AFKI) was established, and the First State Film Factory commenced its operations. The first film shot there was “Maiden Tower.” The institution, which was named “Azdovletkino,” “Azerkino,” “Azerfilm,” and “Baku Film Studio” in various years, transformed into the “Azerbaijanfilm” film studio named after Jafar Jabbarli starting in 1960.
It should also be noted that more than 2,000 films of various genres have been produced at “Azerbaijanfilm” to date. Among them, screen works such as “Arshin Mal Alan,” “Shared Bread,” “The Investigation,” “Stepmother,” “On Distant Shores,” “Our Teacher Jabish,” and “Nasimi” have become winners of international film festivals and State prizes.
