Azerbaijani film wins top awards at Lake Van festival

“Steppe Man,” a 2012 drama directed by Azerbaijani filmmaker Shamil Aliyev, won the award for best film on Monday at this year’s Van Gölü (Lake Van) International Film Festival, Today's Zaman reported.

The festival’s third edition, which took place from Sept. 23-29 in the eastern Anatolian province of Van, honored scriptwriter Vidadi Hasanov with the best screenplay award and Aliyev with the best director award for “Steppe Man,” a film that follows the story of a shepherd who considers the steppes his home, and was Azerbaijan’s submission in the best foreign language film Oscar race at the 2014 Academy Awards.

“Steppe Man” was among 11 feature films and 12 documentaries from Turkey and overseas shown at the festival, which had the theme “Migration and Border: Refugee Lives.”

The top documentary prize went to “Köyüm” (My Village), directed by Burak Yedekçi. The film recounts the story of a group of local villagers in Black Sea region who were forced by the government to relocate to a village near Van’s Özalp district.

Bakudaily.Az