13.11.2025
ADA University Student’s Film Screened at 16th Baku International Film Festival
Ismail Mamedov’s, the young filmmaker's, documentary was selected for screening among entries from 34 countries at the Nizami Cinema Center.
From December 5th to 9th, 2025, Baku hosted the International Festival in Nizami Cinema Center. Baku Film Festival has been operating for over 16 years, gathering filmmakers around the globe (around 34 countries) to present their short or feature movies. It is important to note that the films have been carefully selected by the festival team, and later December 9th at the closing ceremony, the juries will announce the awards to the winners of the festival.
It is important to mention that one of the significant filmmakers whose movie was selected to be screened during the festival is Ismail Mamedov, an undergraduate student in Digital Media and Communications, ADA University.
Mamedov’s main inspiration is his family. While having a usual conversation with mother about university and other daily agendas, their talk changed its topic to reminiscing about the past. “She started giving me an example from her own youth, and started talking about Aghdam, which continues into numerous stories from there. Then it kind of hit me - why not make a movie out of it?” says the young filmmaker. That’s how, from the small visit to parents, the idea for a documentary movie was born.
Mamedov mentioned, when it came to realizing the project, that is where the struggles came along. “I think during the process, I had struggles with perfectionism. Having watched many documentaries, behind the scenes, and tutorials, I had the idea of how I want it to be in my head and tried to push it further. But then, seeing my parents and how they speak from their hearts, I decided that for me in this project, the best way to film it is to make it raw. Not many cuts, transitions, or even a script, just their stories” describes behind the scenes.
During the finalization of the movie, Mamedov was encouraged by his friends to send his film to the festival. The hesitation was only for a moment, but since the filmmaker was awarded at the New York Tri-State International Film Festival, he decided to submit the movie to the 16th Baku International Film Festival as well.
On December 6th, “Geridə qalanlar”, a film directed by Ismail Mamedov, was screened at Nizami Cinema Center. “At the beginning, I was feeling great and really excited. Photographers, journalists, screening my movie in front of total strangers, and Q&A session - it was all surreal to me” says Mamedov.
The screening of “Geridə qalanlar” at the Baku International Film Festival marks an important milestone in Mamedov’s early filmmaking career. “I truly won, maybe not in the festival, but surely in life! I will continue making movies, and hopefully you’ll see many of them soon on big screens!” concludes Mamedov.
Writer: Nubar Rafiyeva
