Die Rückkehr des Filmvorführers

Director Orhkan Aghazadeh returns to his home region on the border between Azerbaijan and Iran with ‘The Return of the Film Projectionist’. He lovingly portrays the inhabitants of a remote mountain village that has been left behind by the passage of time. Although shot entirely as a documentary, his film is also reminiscent of the narrative art of A Thousand and One Nights. With empathy and dry humour, he accompanies his real-life actors in their utopian project.
After the sudden death of his son, Samid decides to restore his old Soviet-era cinema projector. He dreams of reuniting his Azerbaijani village in front of the big screen after thirty years. A great challenge, because the projector lamp is broken, the sceptical moral guardians in the village have to be convinced and the last roll of the only available 35mm film print is missing. But Samid finds support in his film-enthusiastic and clever grandson, who shoots the last part of the film with his own mobile phone.
They stubbornly and imaginatively pursue their plan, which leads to a turbulent, if not magical, night.