TRANSMOGRIFICATION

Born in Baku, Azerbaijan.
More than twenty cinematic works of Shamil Najafzade participated in prominent film festivals, winning many awards. His film “Fortress” was submitted by Azerbaijan for consideration for an Oscar nomination, and his movies are kept in the Library of Congress, USA.

EDUCATION
1978 – 1984 MFA in Movie, TV and Theater Set Design (graduated with honors)
VGIK State Film Academy, Moscow, Russia
1975 – 1978 BA in Painting
Azerbaijan State Art School, Baku, Azerbaijan
Was educated at the Azerbaijan State Art School, and the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography in Moscow. After graduating from the institute with honors, he worked at the Azerbaijanfilm film studio. As a production designer, he participated in the creation of more than 10 feature films. Since 1990 he has been making films as a production director for feature films, documentaries and animation films, mainly according to his own scripts.
While living and creating in Azerbaijan: Honored Artist of Azerbaijan, Secretary of the Union of Cinematographers of Azerbaijan, Member of the Union of Artists of Azerbaijan, Member of the Guild of Professional Filmmakers of Azerbaijan, Chairman of the Board of the Association of Independent Filmmakers of the South Caucasus (IFASC),Representative of the international "Caucasian Documentary Network" in Azerbaijan and Professor at The State University of Arts.
His films, which took part in film festivals and screenings in the USA, Germany, Japan, Canada, India, Greece, France, Finland, Russia, Poland, Holland, Romania, Ukraine, Iran and other countries, were awarded prizes at many festivals.
The feature film "The Fortress" was presented at the Oscar in 2008.
10 of his films are kept in the US Congress Film Library.
Prize "For the best debut" of the film festival "KROK" (ASIFA, 1991, Ukraine-Romania, for the film "Dedication")
Prize "For the best animated film" of the film festival "Look from the East" (1992, Azerbaijan, for the film "Dedication")
Prize "For the best documentary film" of the festival of young cinema "Spring of Firuza" (1993, Turkmenistan, for the film "Black and White World")
Prize of the Union of Cinematographers of Azerbaijan “Best Cinematography”(1996, for the film "Yarasa")
Imaginary Film Academy Certificate (1999, Croatia)
Prize "For the best visual-plastic solution" of the film festival "Pure Dreams" (2002, St. Petersburg, Russia, for the film "Leili and Majnun")
Special Jury Prize of the European Film Festival "Integration" (2004, Poland, for the film "Short Monologues")
National Prize "HUMAY" (2008, Azerbaijan, for the feature film "Fortress")
UNESCO Medal for Contribution to the Development of Culture and Certificate of Honor from the founders of the Film Festival (2011, Greece, for the documentary film "Stepping Beyond the Horizon")
Participant of exhibitions in Germany, France, Poland, Greece, Russia, Azerbaijan.
He took part in the work of the jury in International film festivals.