Azerbaijani film to be featured at Karlovy Vary festival

Feature film “Axinla asagi” (Down the River), production of the Azerbaijanfilm studio, will compete in the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival to take place from July 5-12.

The film was included in “The East of the West” competition program that involves 12 films.

“Down the River” is a psychological family drama. Ali coaches a rowing team in a provincial town. The young squad also includes his son Ruslan, who finds it difficult to meet the demands Ali makes on him, and his father’s frostiness and continual dissatisfaction are getting him down.

Ali is experiencing a crisis of middle age, and only Ruslan is preventing him from leaving his wife Leyla, whom he criticises for spoiling their son. He finds solace in his Polish lover Sasha, who’d rather have Ali for herself and dreams of starting a new life with him. Just before an important race, in the interests of the team’s performance, Ali decides to replace Ruslan, who was originally chosen for the event. But when tragedy strikes that same day, Ali is overcome with emotions he doesn’t know how to deal with. Debut director Asif Rustamov treats this weighty theme with remarkable subtlety and discretion, placing emphasis on the characters’ carefully elaborated psychology and the film’s muted visual compositions.

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival was founded in 1956.


/AzerTAc/