Azeris disrupt screening of film on Russia-Georgia war

Several Azerbaijani activists have disrupted the screening of a film featuring the story of the 2008 Russia-Georgia war.

According to the Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta, the film’s presentation scheduled in Baku’s Park Cinema on February 21 has been cancelled.

“Several users of the social networking site Facebook protested against the film show. They asked the cinema’s administration to cancel the screening, drawing parallels between Georgia (which considers South Ossetia its territory and Russia - an Occupant, and Azerbaijan) and Azerbaijan (which takes a similar stance on Karabakh and Armenia),” says the paper.

August 8, directed by Janik Fayziev, is the 3rd documentary in the series.

A central character in the film is a young woman, Ksenia, who is forced to go South Ossetia in the war period to bring her 7-year-old son from there. She had sent the child to the break-away region before the war broke out (as her ex husband served in the peacekeeping forces in Tskhinvali, and wanted to see his son).

The film can be divided into two parts, one featuring the South Caucasian conflict in the eyes of a young child, and the other representing the real military situation and the young heroine’s “journey”.

Following the war that caused Georgia to lose control over the break away republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Russia recognized both countries.

Georgia in response cut its diplomatic ties with Moscow.