| Director: | Hilal Baydarov |
|---|---|
| Production: | Ucqar Film (Hilal Baydarov), Splendor Omnia Studios, (Carlos Reygadas), Fol Films (Burak Çevik) |
| Running Time: | 112’ |
| Language: | Azerbaijani |
| Country: | Azerbaijan, Mexico, Turkey |
| Main Cast: | Huseyn Nasirov, Maryam Naghiyeva, Rana Asgarova, Elshan Abbasov, Orkhan Iskandarli |
| Screenplay: | Hilal Baydarov |
| Cinematographer: | Hilal Baydarov |
| Editor: | Hilal Baydarov |
| Music: | Kanan Rustamli |
| Sound: | Diego Lozano |
Cinema
Boşluğa xütbə (Sermon to the Void)
Out of Competition
Synopsis
As the world comes to an end, Shah Ismail embarks on a quest for the Water of Life.
Director’s Statement
I’ve never had a serious reason to begin this film — or any of my other films.
Nothing in this world has ever compelled me, encouraged me, or inspired me to make cinema. It’s only that, sometimes, an unexpected and inner urgency rises within me — one so strong it refuses to let me stay still.
My understanding of cinema is not built on knowing, but on not knowing. Not even knowing anything about the characters. While making Boşluğa Xütb , which took eleven months, it wasn’t until the fifth or sixth month that I found the name of the central character. The others remained unnamed.
And to this day, I still don’t know who these characters are.
I don’t know why they enter the film — or why they leave.
I can’t find their reflection in real life either. They simply dwell in the vastness of the desert. They are not the kind of figures one would encounter on a journey with any intention of return. After all, isn’t the true self we seek hidden in a place entirely without colour, without taste, without story — in the endlessness of the desert?
And when a soul has once tasted the force of pure witnessing, isn’t embracing the curse of the desert as one’s homeland the truest Sermon to the Void?
Production/Distribution
PRODUCTION 1:
Ucqar Film - Hilal Baydarov
Binəqədi ray., Süleyman Sani Axundov küç, Bina 3A, mən34. Baku
AZ1000 Baku, Azerbaijan
Tel: +994 552725803
E-mail: hbaydarov@gmail.com
PRODUCTION 2:
Splendor Omnia Studios - Carlos Reygadas Camino al Ojo de Agua No. 10, Antiguo Camino a Sto. Domingo Ocotitlán 62524 Tepoztlán, Mexico Tel: +52 739 395 5509 E-mail: coordinacion@splendoromnia.com
Web: http://www.splendoromnia.com/
PRODUCTION 3:
Fol Films - Burak Çevik Otlukbeli Sokak No. 46/1 Bakırkoy 34153 Istanbul, Turkiye Tel. +49 17659550028 E-mail: folfilms@proton.me
PRESS OFFICE:
Hossein Eidizadeh - Agora Films PR Tel: +420 703 652 358 E-mail: eidizadeh.h@gmail.com
