Hilal Baydarov is a writer and director from Baku, Azerbaijan. Baydarov studied at the Sarajevo Film Academy under the supervision of acclaimed Hungarian filmmaker, Béla Tarr, before going on to make his feature debut, Hills Without Names (2018). The film premiered at the Montreal World Film Festival, the same year his documentary debut, Birthday, won the Docu Talent Award at the Sarajevo Film Festival. Since then, Baydarov has completed an award-winning trilogy of documentaries set in Katech, Azerbaijan. When The Persimmons Grew (2019) won the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Documentary at the Sarajevo Film Festival, as well as the Interreligious Award and Special Jury Mention at Visions du réel.