Baku, October 6, AZERTAC

A premiere of "Ali and Nino" film has been held at the Heydar Aliyev Center.

Azerbaijan's first lady, president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva and the Foundation's vice-president, head of the project and executive producer of the film Leyla Aliyeva watched the film.

Screened on the basis of Gurban Said’s novel of the same name – which is the world’s bestseller, the film tells the story of Azerbaijan’s struggle for independence and the love of two young people of different faiths against the background of Russia’s occupation of Azerbaijan in the early 20th century.

The creative team of the film also attended the premiere.

Prior to the screening of the film, the event featured a video message of Adam Bakri, a starring actor of "Ali and Nino". He expressed his regret for failing to attend the presentation in Baku. He said that he enjoyed his role in the film. Addressing the event in Azerbaijani he said: "I had a very nice time in Azerbaijan, and it is my honor to meet with you."

Then the film was screened.

The film which starts with the words as the 'Word War I breaks out', '50 per cent of the world's oil reserves falls to Azerbaijan', 'the country is located at the crossroads of East and West', aroused great interest at the first cadres.

Muslim prince Ali and Georgian aristocrat Nino have grown up in the Russian province of Azerbaijan. Their tragic love story sees the outbreak of the First World War and the world's struggle for Baku's oil. Ultimately they must choose to fight for their country's independence or for each other.

The shootings started on 24 February 2015, and continued until June and took place in Baku, the historic part of the Icheri Sheher (Old City) and other parts of the capital, also in Gobustan, Khinalig and other districts.

The film's producer is Chris Tike, chief director is BAFTA winner Asif Kapadia. Screenwriter of "Ali and Nino" is a British novelist, screenwriter and film director, Academy Award winner Christopher Hampton.

Starring in the film are the actors Adam Bakri, Maria Valverde, Fakhraddin Manafov, Halit Ergendzh Mendy Petinkin, Connie Nielson, Riccardo Skamarchio, Humayon Ershardi, Assaad Buab, Numan Acar and other famous actors.

The film was first shown on the sidelines of the prestigious International Film Festival Sundance, on January 27, this year in the United States (Park City, Utah).

Foreign media hails Ali and Nino's soundtrack and cinematography. "The music is nostalgic, as well as romantic, sad and hopeful," it says.

Following the premiere, the film producer Chris Tike addressed the event: "In fact, today it was the world premiere of the film "Ali and Nino ". He expressed his deep gratitude to Azerbaijani first lady, president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva for her support of the production of the film.

"Personally I am for the first time watching the dubbed film into Azerbaijani. I hope the film will be a great success. It was a pleasure for us to make a film in this country, and we loved your country," he said. He also hailed the film's executive producer Leyla Aliyeva's love for her work, her creative ideas and support of the film making process. Chris Tike then invited Leyla Aliyeva, Christopher Hampton, Maria Valverde and Numan Acar to the stage.

The film's screenwriter Christopher Hampton described "Ali and Nino" as an unusual work of the art. "The film created an opportunity for me to get closely familiarized with the country. The people are very friendly. I had a very nice time here," he said.

"Ali and Nino" will be screened in CinemaPlus network of cinemas from October 6. The film will be demonstrated in Azerbaijani and English.

Asian World Film Festival which will start on October 24, has chosen "Ali and Nino" as a film to be screened at the opening ceremony.