Ismail Safarali

Ismail Safarali is a scriptwriter and director born in Baku, Azerbaijan. Educated at Duke University (Durham, NC) (MA Economics), Ismail had a successful career in banking before changing his trade for filmmaking in September 2013. In September 2015 Ismail graduated with honors from the Moscow School of New Cinema (MSNC) with a Master’s degree in Filmmaking.

Ismail has shot and co-produced five short films that have been premiered internationally. Ismail’s feature debut “The Fisherman’s Daughter” was produced by Non-Stop production (Leviathan, Loveless, Beanpole) and was sold internationally by Wild Bunch. Ismail currently resides in Paris, France.

Strays

LIM 2025

Two teenage orphans on the run take refuge in an abandoned summer house in a secluded coastal village. There, they form an unexpected bond with the house’s blind, elderly keeper, who, in his own mysterious way, believes they are cats.