MIRAGE 2024 — Film Of The Year

We are thrilled to announce the poetic and mesmerizing ‘Sermon to the Birds’ by Azerbaijani auteur Hilal Baydarov as the MIRAGE 2024 Film of the Year.

‘Sermon to the Birds’ is a cinematic audiovisual experience, set in the beauty of the Azerbaijani mountains. It depicts Davud and Sura, who, facing a siege and waiting for rescue by the Hunter, wed in the mountains and allow themselves to be guided by dreams to find their way.

Each year, MIRAGE selects one film as the ‘Film of the Year,’ shaping the festival's visual identity. The chosen film's artistic and cinematic qualities inspire our posters, flyers, website, and even the festival’s color palette.

We are honoured that Hilal Baydarov has allowed us to use his images and will be our guest of honour to present ‘Sermon to the Birds.’ MIRAGE will also showcase Baydarov’s ‘When the Persimmons Grew,’ a portrait of his mother that reflects on the meaning of home and the fragility of family relations in our modern world.

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Hilal Baydarov was born in Baku, Azerbaijan. During his high school years, he won the national championships of mathematics twice in 2004 and 2005. After a master in computer sciences, he left for Sarajevo to study film directing with Bela Tarr.

His trilogy of documentaries set in Katech Azerbaijan, including 'When the Persimmons Grew' (2019) won the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Documentary at Sarajevo Film Festival and the inter-religious Award and Special Jury Mention at Visions du Réel. 'Mother and Son' (2019) premiered in the main competition at IDFA and 'Nails in my Brain' (2020) at Cinema du Réel. 'In Between Dying' (2020) premiered in Venice Main Competition, and 'Crane Lantern' (2021) at the Tokyo International Film Festival. His 'War Tales' trilogy started with 'Sermon to the Fish' (2022) premiering in Locarno Competition. He is currently working on his final feature of the Sermon trilogy.

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