Date of establishment: 2004

Founder: Center for Young Filmmakers

Location: Baku

Director: Fehruz Shamiyev

Previous names of the festival:
Samad Mardanov I Film Festival of Student Directors (2004)
Start Student Film Festival (2005-2009)
Start International Film Festival of Students and Youth (2010)
Start International Film Festival of Youth (2012)
Start International Film Festival (2018)
Baku International Short Film Festival (2019-2023)
The main award is the “Golden Pomegranate Award”.

I Baku International Film Festival (I Samad Mardanov Student Directors' Film Festival) (2004)

Date: September 8-10, 2004
Idea author and producer: Khalid Shuryuk. Chairman of the Organizing Committee: Zahir Azamat. Press Coordinator: Intigam Hajili.
Jury: Aygun Aslanli, Yusif Sheykhov, Jamil Guliyev, Leyla Vazirzade, Yaver Rzayev, Elchin Musaoglu, Ali Isa Jabbarov
10 films by 7 directors participated in the competition.
Winners:
Best Director: Oil - Tatyana Aliyeva
Best Screenplay: Broken Pot - Ismayil Mammadov
Special Award: Special Forces - Murad Muradov
The winner of both nominations was awarded a cash prize of 100 US dollars.

II Baku International Film Festival (II Start International Student Film Festival) (2005)

Date: 6-9 December 2005
Winners:
Best Film – Grand Prix: Çıma (Gökca Pählivanoğlu / Turkey)
Best Feature Film - 1st Place: St.Cloud (Ceyhun Karabakh / Turkey)
Best Feature Film - 2nd Place: School in the Village (Elnur Aliyev / Azerbaijan)
Best Documentary – 1st Place: No Winner
Best Documentary – 2nd Place: Pillalar (Günel Najafzadeh / Azerbaijan)
Special Award of Buta Film Company: We Will Never Forget You (Könul Huseynova / Azerbaijan)

III Baku International Film Festival (III Start International Student Film Festival) (2006)

Date: December 13-16, 2006
90 films from 9 countries were submitted. The festival's selection committee selected 50 films for the competition program.
Jury: Babek Shirinsifat (Iran), Galiya Eltay (Kyrgyzstan), Ahmet Erdal (Turkey), Ayub Shahabdinov (Uzbekistan), Elchin Musaoglu (Azerbaijan)
Winners:
Best Film – Grand Prix: A Day in the Age of Enmity (Kemale Rzayeva / Azerbaijan)
Best Feature Film – 1st Place: Broken Line (Chavdar Cherner / Bulgaria)
Best Feature Film – 2nd Place: Azmish (Madina Ikramova / Uzbekistan)
Best Documentary – 1st Place: That's How I Stand (Ateş Savaşeri, İrem Pasingil, Onur Etiz / Turkey)
Best Documentary – 2nd Place: Bıçak (Babek Kalentari / Iran)
Best Idea: From Above to Below (Hakan Gök / Turkey)
Special Award of the Cinema Young Cinematographers Center: Chat (Aziz Arzikulov / Uzbekistan)
Special Awards: I sat and watched (Dmitry Miasnikov / Georgia), I want to live (Nargiza Mamatkulova / Kyrgyzstan), Buka (Alakbar Aliyev / Azerbaijan), Zer (Beka Gomelaure / Georgia), I'm glad I was born (Eray Mert / Turkey)

IV Baku International Film Festival (IV Start International Student Film Festival) (2007)

Date: December 18-21, 2007.
27 films from 10 countries were screened during the festival.
Jury: Shamil Aliyev, Kamala Rzayeva, Karim Azimi (Iran), Tuna Yilmaz (Turkey).
Winners:
Grand Prix: no winner
Best Feature Film – 1st place: At the Hotel at Dawn (Bruno Dias / Portugal)
Best Feature Film – 2nd place: The Collector (Egor Abramenko / Russia)
Best Documentary – 1st place: no winner
Best Documentary – 2nd place: The Residence (Florian Scheve / Germany)

V Baku International Film Festival (5th Start International Student Film Festival) (2008)

Date: December 23-25, 2008
About 200 student films from 11 countries were submitted to the festival. The selection committee included 50 films in the competition program of the festival, held under the slogan "The World in 1-30 Minutes".
Jury: Shamil Najafzade, Vugar Hamidov, Teymur Daimi, Irakli Solomonashvili (Georgia), Seyidmammadhuseyn Shirvani (Iran)
Winners:
Best Film – Grand Prix: Nur (Mohanat Hassan / Egypt)
Best Feature Film – Award: Underfoot (Cem Öztüfekçi / Turkey), Yokhus (Mehmet Canmertoğlu / Turkey)
Best Feature Film – Diploma: Kajmir (Nadir Saivar / Iran)
Best Documentary – Award: Good Morning, My Sun (Ulyana Konovalova / Kyrgyzstan)
Best Documentary – Diploma: Lahij Rhythms (Fariz Ahmadov / Azerbaijan)
Best Animated Film – Award: In Size (Marina Mashkova / Russia)
Best Animated Film – Diploma: Bash (Nesrin Gulbatmanoğlu / Turkey)
Special Award of the Cinema Young Cinematographers Center: Its Dark Side (Faraj Suleymanov / Azerbaijan)

VI Baku International Film Festival (VI Start International Student Film Festival) (2009)

Date: November 24-27, 2009
About 200 student films from 14 countries were sent to the festival, 34 films were selected for the competition.
Jury: Rafig Guliyev, Fariz Ahmadov, Nino Maglakalidze (Georgia), Selim Evci (Turkey), Mahmadi Shariat (Iran)
Winners:
Best Film – Grand Prix: She is Still Beautiful (Lina Luzite / Lithuania)
Best Feature Film: Yag (Serik Abishov / Kazakhstan), Yast (Igor Nurislamov / Russia)
Best Documentary: Far from the Coast (Victoria Kurakova / Russia), Qishlaq (Alijan Nesirov / Kyrgyzstan)
Best Animation Film: Vol (Huseyin Bulut / Turkey)
Best Experimental Film: Masih (Elchin Asadov / Azerbaijan)
Special Jury Prize: Koramal (Elmaddin Aliyev, Khayyam Abdullayev / Azerbaijan), Sekim (Hasan Qahvemani / Iran)
Special Cinematography Center Young Cinematographers Prize: Arasında (Anna Kasperska / Poland)

VII Baku International Film Festival (VII Start International Film Festival of Students and Youth) (2010)

Date: November 22-24, 2010
The festival screened about 100 films from 16 countries.
Jury: Yavar Rzayev, Aygun Aslanli, Rodion Ismayilov (Russia), Nadir Saivan (Iran), David Janiledze (Georgia)
Winners:
Grand Prix: No winner
Best Feature Film: Vacant Land (Bogdana Smirnova / Ukraine)
Best Documentary: The Beginning Path (Kaveh Bahrami / Iran)
Best Animated Film: No winner
Best Experimental Film: Silent Room (Can Eren / Turkey)
Best Social Video: Cake (Alan Ostanin / Ukraine)
Best Student Feature Film: Nameless Plant (Georgi Gobaliya / Georgia)
Best Student Documentary: The Squad (Gleb Klishevich / Russia)
Special Jury Prize: Wake Up (Vusal Naib / Azerbaijan), In the Fog (Elvin Adigozel / Azerbaijan)

VIII Baku International Film Festival (VIII Start International Youth Film Festival) (2012)

Date: November 28-30, 2012
The festival is dedicated to the first female film director of Azerbaijan, Gamar Salamzade.
More than 250 films from 20 countries were sent to the festival. 87 films were included in the competition program.
Jury: Shafiga Mammadova, Ilhamiyya Reza, Tahmina Milani (Iran), Yelena Yatsura (Russia), Julia Kolberger (Poland)
Jury of the local competition: Elkhan Jafarov, Ilgar Safat, Tural Aliyev
Winners:
Best Film – Grand Prix: no winner
Best Feature Film: A Story Taken from Life (Kerem Keskin / Turkey)
Best Documentary: Before the War (Jaried Katsiane / Germany)
Best Animation: The Game (Jamal Rahmati / Iran)
Best Experimental Film: Dance of Death (Russia)
Winners of the local competition program:
Best Local Feature Film: Lifelong Prisoner (Ertugrul Kamalov)
Best Local Experimental Film: Motivation (Emin Panah)
Special Prize of the Cinema Young Cinematographers Center: Astar (Zamir Suleymanbeyli, Emin Azizbeyli / Azerbaijan), Yüksalen month (Yelena Maksimenko / Ukraine)

IX Baku International Film Festival (9th Start International Film Festival) (2018)

Date: November 14-17, 2018
Jury: Ayaz Salayev (Azerbaijan), Gulbara Tolomushova (Kyrgyzstan), Kambuzia Partovi (Iran), Tobias Büchner (Germany), Zahra Badalbeyli (Azerbaijan)
Local competition: Mirbala Selimli, Ilgar Fahmi, Javid Tavakkul
Winners:
International competition:
Best feature film – Toprak (Onur Yağız / Turkey, France)
Best documentary – True Love (Iman Behruzi / Iran)
Best experimental film – Toprak (Alican Durbaş / Turkey)
Best animated film – Dashqayn (Jonathan Schwenk / Germany)
Best feature film director – Cruel Games (Geronimo Sarmiento / Estonia, Portugal, Colombia, USA)
Best documentary film director – Today I am happy (Giulio Tonincelli / Italy, France)
Best experimental film director - Ten plus minus forty-three seconds (Francis / France)
Best animated film director - No Attraction (S.Pariso, J.Cisse, F.Cosmidis, F.Aliyer-Estrada, M.Lumet-Blanshart, L.Abraham / France)
Special Jury Prize - Spring (Natalia Konchalovsky / Russia)
Local competition:
Best film - Son (Parviz Gulmammadov)
Best documentary - Adam (Emil Ali)
Best director - One second (Orkhan Adigozelov)
Best screenplay - Sonar (Farid Karim)
Best cinematographer - Memory (Elvin Ahmadoglu)
Special Jury Prize - The 18th Floor (Saidah Abdullayeva)
Winner of the "Cinemobil" online competition - Once Upon a Time in Khudat (Senan Safarov)

X Baku International Film Festival (X Baku International Short Film Festival) (2019)

Date: November 6-9, 2019
Jury: Ilgar Safat (Azerbaijan), Rezan Yaşılbash (Turkey), Artchil Khetaguri (Georgia), Karim Azimi (Iran)
Local competition: Vidadi Hasanov, Gulzar Gurbanova, Imam Hasanov
Winners:
International competition:
Best feature film – Brotherhood (Maryam Jubor / Canada, Tunisia, Qatar, Sweden)
Best documentary – The Other Side of the Andes (Henrik Dalbring / Sweden)
Best animated film – Girl (Daria Kashcheva / Czech Republic)
Best feature film director – Three Days of Klava Grachyova (Ivan Grigolyunas / Russia)
Best documentary director – My Father’s Son (Hillel Reit / Israel)
Best animation director – Girl (Daria Kashchiva / Czech Republic)
Special Jury Prize - The Last Customer (Anna Urbanchik / Poland), Imagination (Gespagh Grani / Belgium)
Jury Diploma - The Real Price (Yelena Poroshina / Russia, Estonia) / Not Today (Marin Jacob / Belgium) / Last Choice (Amil Amal / Azerbaijan)
Special Prize of the Cinema Young Cinematographers Center: Akif (Harun Baysan / Turkey) / Parivash (Amina Monshizadeh / Iran)
Audience Award: Ahillar (Ramin Farzani, Parisa Sedai Azer / Iran) / Nanuli and Gogi (Mariam Agladze / Georgia)
Local Competition:
Best Feature Film - Sorag (Parviz Hasanov)
Best Documentary - Symphony of Noise (Vusal Hajiyev)
Best Social Video - Let the Girl Sing (Gunel Gadirova)
Best Screenplay - Dan Yeli (screenwriter Turkan Zamanova, director Kamal Yashar)
Jury diplomas - Bara (Kurchayli Mammadov), Skat (Saddam Mehdiyev), Iki aqaf (Ruslan Ibrahimli)
Special award of the "Cinema" Young Cinematographers Center - Altsheimer (Gulnar Askeri and Parviz Rashad)
Cinemobile winner - Gizlenpach (Maser Hasanov)

XI Baku International Film Festival (XI Baku International Short Film Festival) (2020)

Date: December 10-15, 2020

Jury: Oleg Safaraliyev (Azerbaijan), Mehmet Bahadir Er (Turkey), Irina Shatalova (Russia), Rufat Asadov (Azerbaijan)
Local competition: Nadir Badalov, Teymur Hajiyev, Erturan Najafi Gol

Winners:
International competition winners:
Best feature film – Sticker (Georgi M. Unkovski / Macedonia)
Best documentary – You should have stayed home, you morons (Ines Luis / Portugal)
Best animated film – Natural selection (Aleta Rajic / Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Best director – The bed (Daniela Abad Lombana / Colombia)
Best documentary director – The heavens (Manuel Marini / Italy)
Best Animated Film Director - Let’s meet yesterday (Iva Tokmakchieva / Bulgaria)
Special Jury Prize - Perpetual Night (Pedro Peralta / Portugal)
Special Jury Diploma - Ward's henna party (Morad Mustafa / Egypt)
Special Prize of the Cinema Young Cinematographers Center - Drifters (Jay Walker / Czech Republic)
Winners of the local competition:
Best Feature Film - Three Ways (Azer Allahverdiyev)
Best Documentary - About a Father (Togrul Musa, Nurlan Hasanli)
Best Animated Film - Raven (Fidan Akhundova)
Best Social Video - Soon (Nicat Gadimli)
Best Screenplay - Three Ways (Azer Allahverdiyev)
Jury Diplomas: Well (Elnur Pasha), The Music You Love (Ceyhun Turksoy), Minutes with My Mother (Senan Safarov), Dialogues with Zuleykha (Rashid Aghamaliyev)
Cinemobil - Best Film - Once Upon a Time in Darnagul (Senan Safarov)
Special Award of the Cinema Young Cinematographers Center - Baku Wind (Shirin Ahmadov)
Special Diploma of the “Oz Film” Company - Tik-Tik and Friends in Search of Miracles (Sultan Abbasbeyli)

XII Baku International Film Festival (XII Baku International Short Film Festival) (2021)

Date: November 19-23, 2021
Jury: Orkhan Fikretoglu (Azerbaijan), Erdem Tepegöz (Turkey), Miroslav Mogorović (Serbia)
Local competition: Mehriban Zaki, Selim Babullaoglu, Elmeddin Aliyev
Winners:
International competition:
Best feature film – Dalia (Bruce Olason / Iceland)
Best documentary film - 4000 votes (Kuish Sajjad / Iraq)
Best animation film - Behind the Scenes (Wu Yen Sheng / Taiwan)
Best feature film director – Chingiz (Heydar Taştan / Turkey)
Best documentary film director – Eternal Spring (Viet Vu / Vietnam)
Best animation film director – Habub (Mahsa Samani / Iran)
Special Jury Prize - Spirit of the Soul (José Martinez, Julieta Gezrok / Spain)
Special Jury Selection – Kuku (Svetlana Belorusova / Russia)
Winners of the local competition:
Best Documentary – Papanin (Turkan Huseyn)
Best Screenplay – Raise the Sails (Sabina Hagverdiyeva)
Best Social Video – Corona-Art Aid (Javid Samedov)
Special Jury Award – Izjuz (feature, Farid Huseynov), +65 (animation, Sevinj Guliyeva)
Diploma of the Cinema Young Cinematographers Center - May 28 (feature, Elvin Ahmadoglu)

XIII Baku International Film Festival (XIII Baku International Short Film Festival) (2022)

Date: November 11-15, 2022
International Jury: Giorgi Ovashvili (Georgia), Adilia Khaybullina (Tatarstan), Emrah Kilic (Turkey)
Jury of the "Asian Talents" Competition: Aliya Dadashova (Azerbaijan), Rashad Alekperov (Azerbaijan)
Domestic Program Jury: Mirsadig Agazade, Gunel Rzayeva, Ali Isa Jabbarov, Gismet Rustamov
Winners:
International Competition Winners:
Best Film – Techno, Mother (Saulius Baradinskas / Lithuania)
Best Documentary – Star Sower (Lois Patino / Spain)
Best Animated Film – Vagh River (Wan Li Liu / Taiwan - PRC)
Best Feature Film Director – Rutubat (Turan Khasta / Turkey)
Best Documentary Director – Eve and Ramona (Minka Jakerson / Sweden)
Best Animated Film Director – Insect Awakening (Stephanie Lensak, François Leroy / France)
Special Jury Prize – North Pole (Maria Apchevska / North Macedonia)
Winners of the “Asian Talents” competition:
Best Film – Night of the Universe (Ramin Farzani, Parisa Sedaiazar / Iran)
Best Feature Film Director – Midnight (Nazile Azizi / Afghanistan)
Winners of the local competition:
Best Feature Film – Fence (Gulu Asgarov)
Best Documentary – Since the Dust Was Cast (Togrul Abbasov)
Best Social Video – His Camera (Boyugaga Aliyev)
Best Student Film – Motivator (Kamal Mushvig)
Best Director – Last Autumn (Rustam Babazade)
Best Screenplay – The Last Photo (Turkan Huseyn)
Special Jury Award – Saddam Mehdiyev, Murad Huseynov - For Creative Search
Jury Diplomas: Only Grave (Elnur Pasha) / Trial (Ruslan Mollayev) / House on the Volcano (Amil Amal) / Far (Social Wheel / Javad Nur)
Azerbaijan Producers Guild “Best Producer” Award: Dog Doc (Sitare Ibrahimbeyli)
Awards of the Young Cinematographers Center: Forgotten Dreams (Aynur Kazimova / Azerbaijan), Boshqab (Rana Vaezi, Ozra Khan Khajeh / Iran)
Cinemobile Audience Award – Icherisheher (Huseynaga Aslanov)

XIV Baku International Film Festival (XIV Baku International Short Film Festival) (2023)

Date: November 10-15, 2023
704 films from 78 countries were submitted to the festival. 42 films representing 32 countries in the international competition, 17 films in the “Asian Talents” competition, and 26 films in the local competition joined the fight for the festival’s main prize, the “Golden Pomegranate”. Three films competed in the “Cinemobil” competition.
Jury: Yavar Rzayev (Azerbaijan), Reza Mirkarimi (Iran), Farhad Sharifov, Rulof Jan Minnebu (Netherlands)
Jury of “Asia’s Got Talent”: Erjan Dzumabeyov (Kazakhstan), Sharif Aghayar, Ramin Farzana
Local competition: Mehriban Alakbarzadeh, Elchin Shikhli, Nadir Mehdiyev
Winners:
International competition:
Best feature film - None (Patricio Martinez, Francisco Canton / Argentina)
Best documentary - Galina Petrovna (Nikita Lovetski / Kyrgyzstan)
Best animation - The Wolf in the Fable (Vuk Palibrk, Tanja Brzakovic / Serbia)
Best feature film director - Rafiqam (Kovser Yunis / Egypt)
Best documentary film director - The Three Sisters (Iman Behruzi / Iran)
Best animation film director - The Witch-fairy (Cedric Aygat, David van de Weyer / Belgium-Bulgaria)
Best Screenplay - The Devil (Jan Buynowski / Poland)
Best Editing - The True Truth About the Case (Andrea Slaviček / Croatia-Spain)
Special Jury Prize - Around Teruel (Manuel Omonte / Spain)
Special Jury Mention - Hadis (Nazrin Aghamaliyeva / Azerbaijan), When the Rocket is on the Launch Pad (Bahau Liu / China-USA), The Wall (Evrim İnci / Turkey), Aykuo (Ayal Adamov / Russia), A Little Love (Aycan Gasımbey)
“Asia’s Got Talent” Competition:
Best Film - Broken Ends (Alirza Kazımpour / Iran)
Best Director - A Day in the Life of a Salesman (Erinç Durlanık / Turkey)
Best Screenplay - Wedding Song (Adalat Omarov / Kyrgyzstan)
Local Competition:
Best Feature Film - Salam Isa (Samad Aghayev)
Best Documentary - Good Morning, Mother of the Dawn (Kurchayli Mammadov)
Best Student Film - The Pianist (Mammademin Alizadeh)
Best Social Video - Khojaly (Vusal Hamdullayev)
Best Director - Breath (Elmar Bayramov)
Best Screenplay - Polar Star (Shirin Ahmadov, Elmar Farzali)
“Cinemobil” nomination: Saatsaz (Huseynagha Aslanov)
“Rasim Ojagov” Award of the “Azerbaijanfilm” Film Studio: Together, Alone (Kasym Ordek)
“Best Producer” Award of the Azerbaijan Producers Guild: Emil Najafov
Jury Diploma: Rear Front (Gulay Babayeva)

XV Baku International Film Festival (2024)

Up to 800 films applied to the festival. 79 films from 26 countries were selected for screening.
For the first time, a full-length film competition was also held at the 15th festival.
In the traditional non-competitive section of the festival, “Our Language,” there was an opportunity to watch films shot in the native languages ​​of our compatriots living in different parts of the world, as well as short films nominated for the BAFTA award of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, presented with the support of the British Council.
Within the framework of the festival, a presentation by Faruk Güven, the head of “TRT Cinema”, a discussion on the topic of “co-production” with the participation of Turkish producer Emrah Kılıç and Azerbaijani producer Emil Najafov, and the Azerbaijani premiere of the film “Coal” by Iranian director and jury member of the festival’s international competition Ismail Monsef were held.

Jurors:
International Short Film Competition Category: Ismail Monsef (Iran), Teymur Hajiyev (Azerbaijan), Yevgeny Mayzel (Russia)
Local Short Films: Zaur Gasimli, Irada Gozalova, Nasimi Aliyev, Can Ozbatur
“Asian Talents” Category: Eldar Yuldashov (Uzbekistan), Zumre Ertürk (Turkey)
Feature Debut Films: Huseyn Mehdiyev (Azerbaijan), Siddik Barmak (Afghanistan), Mahmud Fazil Coşkun (Turkey)

Winners:
Debut Feature Film Category:
“Best Feature Film” - Baurina Salu (Askhat Kuchinchirekov / Kazakhstan)
“Best Director” - Rocinante (Baran Gunduzalp / Turkey)
“Best Screenplay” - Sunday (Shakir Kholikov / Uzbekistan)
“Best Cinematography” - Monologue of a Lonely Man (director Emin Efendiyev, cinematographer Daniel Guliyev / Azerbaijan)
Special Jury Prize - Balam (Ira Bas / Russia)
International Competition:
“Best Feature Film” - Almost Completely Wrong (Cansu Baydar / Turkey)
“Best Director” - Chukhur (Christian Beke, Oliver Schwabe / Germany)
“Best Documentary” - Valeria (Sara Jurinčik / Croatia)
“Best Animated Film” - Letters from My Father (Alexei Yevstingneev / France)
Special Jury Mention - The Taxidermist (Behzad Alavi, Susan Salamat Chagoshi / Iran), Let's Not Go Hungry (Yigit Hepsev / Turkey)
“Asia's Got Talent” Competition:
“Best Film” - The Palestinian Islands (Nur Ben Selem, Julien Menantu / Palestine)
Special Jury Prize - The Body Shopper (Alireza Shakeri / Iran), Baba Hakki (Nijat Ghulam / Azerbaijan)
Young Cinematographers Center Award - Umesh's Chronicle (Pooja Kaul / India). “The Desire of Sound” (Shinyu Kan / Korea)
LOCAL COMPETITION
“Best Feature Film” - Well (Rufat Ray)
“Best Documentary” - Babam Evi (Leylakhanim Ganbarli)
“Best Student Film” - Sukut (Aysha Mirzazadeh)
“Best Directorial Work” - The Red Color of the Second Planet (Azer Guliyev)
“Best Screenplay” - Sham Baghi (Ilkin Umarov)
Special Jury Prize: Cage (Murad Allahverdiyev, Ruhulla Rahimov, Farid Ayvazov, Ilaha Nurullayeva, Shahin Huseynli, Tural Alasgarli, Mirtalib Hasanov, Sevinj Guliyeva, Saadat Gurbanova, Sarkhan Najiyev)
FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO AZERBAIJAN CINEMA:
Actress Hamida Omarova, actress Shukufa Yusupova