Filmmakers gather for workshop in Baku

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

YARAT Contemporary Art Space hosted a workshop by American film director and producer Lisa Leeman on February 10.

The workshop organized jointly by YARAT FreeStyle and the U.S. Embassy in Baku brought together professional and amateur filmmakers.

Addressing the event, the specialist for cultural Affairs of the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan Fargani Aliyev spoke about director's activity.

He stressed that YARAT Contemporary Art Centre screened director's film “One Lucky Elephant” on February 7.

The workshop that featured such topics as structure and history; the concept/production planning; financing/distribution, etc. was met with great interest.

"One Lucky Elephant" was premiered to sold-out crowds at the Los Angeles Film Festival, 2010, and continued to sell out screenings at festivals like IDFA, St. Louis, and the Starz Denver Film Festival.

The film won Best Editing, Feature Documentary, at the Woodstock Film Festival in 2010, and was acquired by Oprah Winfrey’s network, OWN.

The film was selected to be part of the U.S. State Department's American Documentary Showcase, and screened in Russia, Greece, Korea, and other countries in this program of "Documentary Diplomacy".

Leeman believes that strong narrative and character-driven films can change the world.

She has produced, directed, written and edited award-winning feature and short documentaries for the last twenty-five years. Calling her films ‘sideways social- issue films,’ she specializes in illuminating contemporary social issues through character-driven stories that follow people at critical turning points in their lives. 

Her current film AWAKE: The Life of Yogananda, co-directed with Paola di Florio, premiered to sold-out crowds at the Seattle Film Festival in May, 2014. It won the Audience Award at the Illuminate Film Festival, and the Spirit of Cinema Award at the Maui Film Festival. Lisa’s last film, the award-winning One Lucky Elephant, premiered to sold-out crowds at the Los Angeles Film Festival, 2010, and continued to sell out screenings at festivals like IDFA, St. Louis, and the Starz Denver Film Festival.