With support from the Azerbaijan Culture Ministry and the Azerbaijan Cinema Agency (ARKA), and main sponsorship by Pasha Holding, the 4th Salam International Youth Film Festival has kicked off in Baku, Azernews reports.
From early morning, nearly 400 festival participants gathered in front of the Nizami Cinema Center and, accompanied by the orchestra's music, entered the hall and took their seats.
The ceremony was attended by distinguished guests, international participants, media representatives, as well as numerous figures from the fields of cinema and culture.
The festival's art director, Leyla Dostalizade, opened the ceremony by welcoming the guests and participants and expressing gratitude to the organizations and companies that supported the event.
ARKA Director General Rashad Azizov addressed the audience, wishing success to the young participants and the festival itself. Following him, Mr. Subhan Rahimli, Attaché of the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Belgium, shared his reflections on the importance of the festival.
After these remarks, the founder and general director of the festival, Nariman Mammadov, officially declared the 4th edition of Salam BYFF open.
The official program began with the competition screening of the Japanese film "You are here, you were here" (dir. Kousuke Sakoda). After the screening, director Kousuke Sakoda took the stage and engaged in a Q&A; session with the audience, creating an inspiring and emotional experience for the teenagers.
In the afternoon, participants joined the Cinemarathon workshop, where mentors Qurban Bunyatov, Eldar Albertson, and Leylakhanim Ganbarli gave them creative assignments, and the groups began developing ideas for their own short films.
At the same time, several participants joined the Salam News & Backstage workshop led by Iro Riga (Greece).
The first festival day concluded with the screening and discussion of the Norwegian film "Dancing Queen in Hollywood" (dir. Aurora Gosse).
Media partners of the event are Azernews.Az, Trend.Az, Day.Az, and Milli.Az.
