‘Ali and Nino’ love story made into feature film

The story of a cross-cultural romance between a Christian Georgian girl and a Muslim Azerbaijani boy has stolen the hearts of many around the globe and will soon be depicted on the big screen.

Described in Baku magazine as "one of the most telling and enigmatic love stories of the 20th century” the tale of Ali and Nino will be turned into a feature film and shot in Azerbaijan next year.

An announcement dinner was held at the annual Cannes Film Festival 2014 where the main actor of the film, its director, producer and screenwriter were announced.

Published in 1937 in Berlin – at the height of the Nazi era – the novel caused an immediate sensation and has been translated into 33 languages. 

Set in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Persia during and immediately after World War I, the story deals with the enduring love affair of Prince Ali Khan Shirvanshir, direct decedent of the oldest royal dynasty of Islam and Princess Nino Kiphiani, the beautiful daughter of an aristocratic Georgian Orthodox Christian family.

The author of the tale remains unknown – the novel was written in German under the pseudonym Kurban Said – and the book was translated into Georgian and published locally only in recent years. To date it has been published in 33 languages with more than 100 editions or reprints.