The Sevil International Women's Documentary Film Festival in Azerbaijan showcases films about issues that resonate with women and highlight their perspectives. Launched in 2020 by Aygun Rashidova, SevilFest takes place annually in the capital city of Baku, and in cities and villages in several other regions across the country.
The films come from all over the world and must be made by a female director, or address gender-related issues, explained Rashidova. The week-long event addresses womanhood, femininity and queerness, among other themes.
“As a festival, we want to contribute to the documentary industry, especially the participation of women in it,” she said. “For example, a woman can become motivated and learn something in our workshops or master classes. Let her express herself and make films.”
The festival takes its name “Sevil” from a play written by well-known Azerbaijani writer Jafar Jabbarly, which examined the role of women in pre-Soviet society and how they overcame oppression under dated patriarchal traditions.
SevilFest’s origins
Rashidova was inspired to create SevilFest in 2019 upon recognizing the high rate of femicide in Azerbaijan. That year, 54 women were killed by family members or partners. Almost 200 were subjected to domestic violence.
She united with other women from the film and theater industry to begin planning an event to instead empower women in society.
While the festival prioritizes films told through the gaze of female directors, the themes addressed in them don’t only have to be related to gender, explained Durna Safarova, curator of special programs at SevilFest. “As an inclusive community, SevilFest embraces stories from segments of society that often don't find a voice on mainstream platforms,” she said. “We seek films that are relevant to the current global and local context, and make sure that our programming reflects diverse and impactful narratives.”
The films SevilFest shows in the regions outside of Baku address themes of importance to the people living there, Rashidova added.
Raising awareness and navigating challenges
Every year, SevilFest organizers make a major push in the regions outside of Baku to raise awareness and bring in attendees for the festival. Each region, for instance, is assigned a coordinator who goes door to door to promote the event.
Gulyaz Hümmatzada is a regional coordinator in the northwest Azerbaijani city of Shaki, where she visits the local university and gathers volunteers to let people know about the festival. “There has been a big difference. If 100-150 people came before, this year it was 300 in Shaki. It is a good result for us,” Hümmatzada said, adding that people of all ages attend the festival, from teenagers to the elderly.
Attracting attendees in the country’s more conservative regions have been more challenging for the SevilFest team. “The doors to knock in other regions such as in Lankaran and Shabran are not a lot. Shaki is a bit bigger, there are universities there, some NGOs are still there. But it is different in other regions. If 30-35 people gather in Lankaran [in southern Azerbaijan] we are very happy,” Rashidova said.
She added that they plan logistics around the local ways of life so people are more likely to attend. In Lankaran, explained Rashidova, they run a smaller festival for two days, instead of a full week. “We discussed that locals only can come during the weekend, so we did it during the weekend. We selected films that would be very interesting for them and found a manageable time, and also found a bus that would bring them and return them back.”
Funding is a continuous challenge, as well. “Financial limitations are a significant issue, which means we have to rely heavily on the passion of our colleagues, the hard work of our volunteers, and the solidarity and support of our international guests,” said Safarova.
She added that the documentary film industry in Azerbaijan is especially underdeveloped when it comes to women’s involvement and inclusion in it.
“There are significant gaps in financial, educational and logistical resources. At SevilFest, we try to address these challenges particularly for female filmmakers,” she said. “Women have remained marginalized within the Azerbaijani film industry; they often haven’t received credit for their work.”
Recognizing success
SevilFest concludes with a jury of documentary filmmakers and other media professionals convening to recognize filmmakers in several categories, for international short films, feature length documentaries and local short-form documentaries. During these competitions the directors hold Q&A sessions with audience members.
“Every year, we try to introduce new elements to the festival, expanding our scope and bringing in both established professionals and emerging filmmakers from around the world,” Safarova said.
Over the years, SevilFest has received more and more film submissions – an encouraging sign for the team. “We try to strengthen the legacy of women filmmakers and make their achievements visible to the next generation.”
Photo by pawel szvmanski on Unsplash.
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