National movie achieves global success

Azerbaijan’s "Pomegranate Orchard" movie by Ilgar Najaf continues to achieve global success.

Ilgar Najaf won the prize of the 11th Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Trend Life reported. The filmmaker gained victory in the "Young Cinema" nomination.

Earlier, movie's scriptwriters Ilgar Najaf, Asif Rustamov and Roelof Jan Minneboo (the Netherlands) received the "Best Screenplay" prize at the 24th "Listopad" International Film Festival in Minsk.

"Pomegranate Orchard" features a story about an old man, who lives along with his grandson and daughter-in-law in the decrepit house amidst of the huge pomegranate garden. Sudden comeback of his wayward son has changed a gentle rhythm of their peaceful existence. Forgotten bitter memories have come back and even more, new challenges are in store for them.

Scriptwriters are Asif Rustamov, Ilgar Najafov and Roelof Jan Minneboo (The Netherlands). Operatordirector is Aykhan Salar (Germany), animation director is Rafig Nasirov, executive producer Akif Aliyev, and producer Mushfig Hatamov.

The cast includes Gurban Ismayilov, Anar Hasanov, Samimi Farhadov and Hasan Agayev.

The world premiere of the movie was held within the “East of the West” competition of the Czech Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

Notably, the movie is also included in the long list of applicants for the Oscar 2017 in the nomination "The best film in a foreign language".

The Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) is an international cultural initiative of the Brisbane City Council, Australia, to honor and promote the films, actors, directors, and cultures of the Asia-Pacific region to a global audience and to realize the objectives of UNESCO to promote and preserve the respective cultures through the influential medium of film.

The winners of the prestigious award, which is unofficially called ‘Asian Oscar’, are annually announced in the Australian city of Brisbane.