Private Project

City of light

Selecting footage I’d shot of my beloved city I was very nervous. How best should I tell you of my Baku? Avoiding the trivial: “Baku is a place where East meets West”, or “This is the city of ancient culture permeated with contemporary rhythms”. I was looking for other words… Or perhaps it would be best if I didn’t speak at all, but remained silent altogether? And let Baku speak for itself.
I’d like you to hear the melody of Baku. It is in the flutter of pigeons’ wings, in the droning ship sirens, in the noise of the drilling rigs, in the happy chirping of kids… So watch and listen… Not to me, but to the voices of believers and to the sounds of the big city…

  • Lala Akhundova
    Director
    "Family", "Boulangerie-patisserie", "Friend" film etc.
  • Lala Akhundova
    Writer
    "Family", "Boulangerie-patisserie", "Friend" film etc.
  • Kamil Mammadov
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature, Music Video
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 3 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    December 8, 2014
  • Production Budget:
    65,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Azerbaijan
  • Country of Filming:
    Azerbaijan
  • Shooting Format:
    digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Lala Akhundova

Lala Akhundova was graduated from the faculty of International Relations of the Baku State University (1997), got master degree at Moscow State Institute of the International Relations and upholded the candidate’s thesis (2000). Repeated internships in France, including La femis film school (2003).
2002-2004 – student of the Graduate School of Scriptwriters and Film Directors (workshop of V. Khotinenko, P. Finn, V. Fenchenko).
2006 – Graduation film “Friend” defense, fiction and non-fiction film director diploma. July-september 2013 - internship in NYFA film school (Los Angeles, USA)
2009 – till now: associate professor of the department of television, radio and Internet technologies of the Russian State University for the Humanities
2010 – 2014: professor of the department of the motion-picture art of the Moscow State University of Culture and Arts. Portfolio: http://youtu.be/tNlhRnWjD0c
Filmography: scriptwriter and director
1) “Family”, 2 min., fiction, GSSFD, Moscow, 2003. “The smallest Stalker” award on “Stalker” International Film Festival, Moscow, 2003.
2) “Baker’s and confectioner’s” (“Boulangerie-patisserie”), 13 min., documentary, La femis, France, 2003. «Debut – Kinotavr shorts» festival official program, Sochi, 2004.
3) “Friend”, 26 min., fiction, GSSFD, Russia-Azerbaijan, 2006. In technical cooperation with “Leader TV” media holding (Azerbaijan) and “C-41 production” studio (Moscow).
Prizes:
Los Angeles Short film festival (USA, 2007) – best actor
International film festival in Jonestown (USA, 2007) - the Diploma for the best director
International student film festival in Bangkok (Thailand, 2007) - the second place in the category "experimental film"
San Francisco Short film festival (USA, 2007) – best short film
Canadian annual international festival of films and video films (Ontario, 2007) - best script in the category of student film and best short film
4) “City of light”, 63 min., documentary, Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Azerbaijan, film studio Salname, Azerbaijan, 2014.

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