Zoroaster Award (Italian-Azerbaijan Film Festival) aims to promote the past, present, and future of cinema in Italy and Azerbaijan. By showcasing the film industries of both countries, in their similarities and their differences, this festival will help bring them to the forefront of international film discourse, and stimulate international market presence.
Organized by IMAGO GROUP and the publisher SANDRO TETI EDITORE, the Italo-Azerbaijan film festival will be held for 5 days in Baku. The festival will open with an anthology of classic Italian and Azerbaijani films, screen a selection of contemporary films from both countries on multiple projections, and culminate with an award ceremony on the final evening.
Many important figures from both countries will be feature prominently in this event. In the leadership positions, First Vice President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and president of the Aliyev foundation Mehriban Aliyeva will serve as the Honorary President of the festival, while art direction shall be handled by Italian screenwriter and director Claudio Rossi Massimi. The actor and director Remo Girone, well-known throughout the former soviet-bloc region for his portrayal of Tano Cariddi in the serial “La Piovra”, will headline the festival, and many other Italian/Azerbaijani actors and directors will take part in the screenings. The program will be enriched by workshops, networking events, and commercial exchanges between the film industries of the two countries.