FFCFW is an annual summer and fall meeting point for audiences and young filmmakers to celebrate the finest independent cinema and storytelling about farm and culture. The festival program includes eight curated award-winning feature fiction and documentary films from around the world.

Film: The Return of the Projectionist

Directed by: Orkhan Aghazadeh

Production: France and Germany

Production year: 2024

Duration: 87 minutes

Genre: Documentary

Languages: Talysh/Azerbaijani,English subtitles

Cast: Samid & Ayaz

Synopsis: Since losing his son in an occupational accident, Samid has been struggling with feelings of loneliness and melancholy. Bringing his village cinema back to life becomes an obsession, an endeavor in which he has no trouble encouraging the young and brilliant Ayaz to join him. Together, they must climb hills to find signal and order a bulb, convince the village to build and sew a screen, weld old video recorders, get past the censorship committee and ignore the rumors surrounding the project, all while trying not to become disheartened. Samid passes on his craft, patience and knowledge as a projectionist, while Ayaz, a budding filmmaker, provides a link with the modern world, that of social networks and a different relationship to images.