Baku, August 1, AZERTAC
“Azerbaijan`s animation film “Hadis” is included in the main competition program of the 25th Bucheon International Animation Festival (BIAF) to be held in Bucheon, South Korea on October 20-24.
BIAF short animated films category will feature a total of 81 films, chosen among 3015 films from 101 countries.
“Hadis,” directed by Nazrin Agamaliyeva, produced by Rashid Agamaliyev depicts a young girl fighting for justice in an unjust world ruled symbolically by crows.
The short animated film is dedicated to the 22-year-old ethnic Azerbaijani Turk Hadis Najafi who was shot to death by the Iranian security forces during protests in Iran on September 21, 2022. Hadis is also dedicated to those who fight against gender, ethnic and cultural discrimination in this country.
The screenplay is co-written by Ismail Iman and Nazrin Aghamaliyeva, with Masud Panahi serving as a consultant to the film. The lead animator is Andrea Szelesová, with editing by Jorge Sánchez Calderón. Voice acting is performed by Zohre Karimi. The film’s soundtrack features the music of popular Azerbaijani musician Sevda Alekbarzadeh.
The animated film is produced by ANIMAFILM Studio with financial support from the Azerbaijan Cultural Society of Northern California. The Azerbaijan Animation Association and Akinchi platform provided media support for the film.
In 1999, the Bucheon Int`l Animation Festival (BIAF) embarked on its journey as the sole animation festival in Asia. BIAF has moved to general competition festival which has competitions of 5 categories (Feature / Short / Graduation / TV&Commissioned / Online). The festival is an Academy Award Qualifying Festival meaning that the Grand Prize winner will be eligible for consideration in the Animated Short Film Category of the Academy Award.