The screening of the documentary titled “Son” was held in Baku

On October 18, a screening of the documentary film “Son” produced by the British company “Broken Pot Media” with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Ministry of Culture was held at the Nizami Cinema Center, according to Azerbaijan in Focus, reporting Qafqazinfo.

The event started with the commemoration of the dear memory of our martyrs with a minute of silence.

Vice President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva, Head of the Baku Media Center Arzu Aliyeva, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, Executive Director of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Anar Alakbarov, family members of the martyr of the First Karabakh War Natig Gasimov, officials, well-known artists, and other guests took part in the event.

It should be noted that the documentary film, which was made in three years, is about the Azerbaijani soldier Natig Gasimov, who was captured by the Armenians during the First Karabakh War.

The producer of the film, Eckart Sager, spoke about the process of making the film and noted that he was influenced by the scenes of Natig Gasimov laying down his weapon, and being captured and interrogated by Armenians.

He pointed out that despite the fact that 25 years have passed since the events of the film, there is no information about the fate of N. Gasimov, and that is why he set out to investigate what happened to Natig Gasimov: “Taking into account the relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, it was our responsibility to approach this issue objectively and with restraint.  This tragic incident is the epitome of the Karabakh war.”

Nofal Gasimov, the brother of Natig Gasimov, said in an interview that there was no information about the fate of Natig until the filming of the documentary film began. He added: “We only had information about his capture. We later learned that he had survived and fought alone in the Albanian church. Later, he agreed to surrender so that the residents who were taken hostage in Khojaly wouldn’t be killed.

After losing six of his comrades during military operations, Natig Gasimov remained besieged in the Albanian church, which he defended alone for five days, resisting the Armenians and not surrendering. After the Armenians threatened to kill 22 hostages in Khojaly, our brave warrior agreed to surrender.

Armenians could not believe that Natig fought alone for several days. In the article titled “Fear” (“Strakh”) published in the April 1992 issue of “Ogonyok” magazine (No. 14-15) by a reporter named Konstantin Smirnov, the bravery of Natig Gasimov, who did not give the Azerbaijani flag to the enemy even when he surrendered, was mentioned. In that article, there was also a photo of Natig Gasimov, who was proudly holding the Azerbaijani flag, surrounded by Armenian soldiers.

This documentary film, which tells about another heroic page of the history of Azerbaijan, was screened by the director and screenwriter Karan Singh based on the unpublished photos of the Italian military photojournalist Enrico Sarsini. The director, who decided to introduce to the world the very sad but proud story told by Enrico Sarsini about what happened in Karabakh, spent three years meeting with witnesses in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Italy, Great Britain and Russia to clarify that event and the hero’s fate, and recorded their interviews.

The film contains moments related to the interrogation of Natig Gasimov in Armenian captivity and facts about the participation of Armenian field commander Vitaly Balasanyan in these interrogations. According to witnesses, Armenian soldier Vitaly Balasanyan tortured and killed Natig Gasimov, who was registered as a missing person in the First Karabakh War at the State Commission for Prisoners and Missing and Hostaged Citizens.

The film reveals the hypocritical Armenian character once again. At the same time, the director of the film talks about the terrible role that wars play in the fate of people in the screenplay and brings to the fore the suffering of families from the loss of their loved ones and the unknown fate.

After the successful anti-terrorist measures of the Azerbaijani Army in September 2023, the documentary film “Son”, which vividly reflects the bravery of Natig Gasimov, came back to the agenda of the public.

The film was made in Azerbaijani and English and was screened twice at US festivals.