Hilal Baydarov

Hilal Baydarov (b. 1987) is an Azerbaijani director, screenwriter, and cinematographer acclaimed for contemplative, poetic cinema rooted in landscape and solitude. A student of Béla Tarr, he moved from early personal documentaries like When the Persimmons Grew (2019) to fiction with In Between Dying (2020, Venice). Crane Lantern (2021, Tokyo) and his ongoing “War Tales” trilogy—Sermon to the Fish (2022, Locarno), Sermon to the Birds (2023, Tokyo), and Sermon to the Void (2025, Venice)—confirm his meditative style. His films intertwine memory, myth, and nature, using stillness, repetition, and striking images to explore exile, identity, and the spiritual resonance of war.