Jamil Elshad oghlu Guliyev was born in 1963 in Baku. In 1984 he graduated from the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography in Moscow with a degree in film directing (in the workshop of People's Artists of the USSR A. Alov and V. Naumov). From 1984 he worked as a stage director at the "Azerbaijanfilm" studio, directing many documentary and feature films. The films directed by Jamil Guliyev have taken part in international festivals in France, Sweden, Turkey, Russia, Georgia, the Czech Republic, Romania and other countries. From 1987 he began teaching at the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts. From 1998 to 2006 he was head and associate professor of the "Film and Television Art" department at that university. He is currently a professor at the same university. From 2000 to 2005 he served as director of the International Audiovisual Festival. From 2006 to 2013 he was director of the Azerbaijan State Film Fund, and from 2011 to 2013 general director of the Madaniyyat (Culture) channel. He served as executive secretary of the Union of Cinematographers of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and from 23 April 2013 to 11 May 2018 as General Director of the Public Television and Radio Broadcasting Company. From 1 August 2018 to 2019 he headed the sector for film registration, promotion and distribution of the Cinematography department of the Ministry of Culture. From 2019 to 2020 he served as director of the "Azerbaijanfilm" studio. Since 1990 he has been an academician and member of the International Cinematography Confederation, since 1996 of the Union of Journalists of Azerbaijan, and since 2010 of the International Academy of Television and Radio. In 2009 he was elected a member of the International Council of Museums (ICOM).
