Azerbaijan welcomes Iranian cinema

Iranian cinematographers are famous in the world and received important international awards, Omarova told the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) on Saturday.

The two neighboring countries of Iran and Azerbaijan enjoy historical, cultural and spiritual commonalities, she said.

Grounds have been prepared for both countries to maintain cooperation in cultural and artistic fields, she added.

We are interested in having joint cooperation with Iranian cinematographers, she reiterated.

Hamida Omarova was born to a family of teachers, Mammad and Nasiba Omarov. Her parents met at university where both of them studied foreign languages, and went on to have four children, three of whom died in their infancy. When Hamida was born, her parents visited the Sufi Hamid shrine in Qazakh and after being sure the newborn would survive, they named her after the sanctuary. Following her parents' divorce in 1960 and her father's permanent departure to his native Gazakh, Hamida Omarova was raised by her mother and grandmother.

After graduating from high school she enrolled at Baku State University to study philology. While finishing her first year in 1975, she entered an academic contest along with other 300 people and was among the 15 contestants who were admitted to the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography in Moscow.

9376**2050

Follow us on Twitter @IrnaEnglish