The 3rd edition of the Sevil International Women’s Documentary Film Festival is right on the corner. On August 13-20, the festival is going to take place simultaneously in Baku, Sheki, and Lankaran. The “SEVIL” International Women’s Documentary Film Festival is a regional, independent documentary film festival. Gender issues are addressed in the films shown as part of the festival program. “Who will you let come over?” is this year’s motto. The festival’s theme this year is related to stereotypes that limit women, and it dedicates its activities to breaking stereotypes.
Thus, the Women’s Film Festival’s main goal is to focus on gender issues in our country through documentaries and discussions, and the activities planned within the festival program serve this purpose.
The selection committee’s films will compete in three categories: best feature film, best short documentary film, and best local documentary film. A rich festival program will also be available, including numerous local and international long and short documentaries, masterclasses, panel discussions, and post-film discussion sessions. This year, as in previous years, the festival will welcome film professionals from around the world.
The program’s films will be shown in their original language with Azerbaijani subtitles. As for the organizational part, the youth of Baku, Sheki, and Lankaran was involved in the festival’s organization. Within the context of the 2022 program, the “Sevil” International Women’s Documentary Film Festival (Sevil IWDFF) has begun collaboration with Germany’s “goEast” film festival. Within the framework of this collaboration, this year’s “Sevilfest” winning director will be invited to participate in the “East-West Talent Lab” organized by “goEast.”
Since September 2020, the Sevil Film Festival has been taking place. The festival’s goals are to contribute to the development of the independent Sevil-IWDFF local documentary field, to create a platform for the exchange of experience between local and foreign documentary professionals, to promote the creation of new local documentaries as well as international co-productions, and to address gender issues through documentaries. The name “Sevil” is derived from Jafar Jabbarli’s play “Sevil,” which represents women’s freedom in Azerbaijan.
