YEREVAN (Azg Daily)–The Golden Apricot 3rd International Film Festival launched in Yerevan July 10 at the Yerevan Moskva Cinema. The festival’s theme is "Crossroads of Cultures And Civilizations."
Chairman of the Golden Apricot Film Festival–Canadian film director Atom Egoyan–in his opening remarks–said an Armenian film festival in Paris "one the most important events of my cultural formation–and convinced me that I had to connect with Armenia in a more direct way."
"Although I had seen Paradjanov’s work in Toronto–this was my first opportunity to see the full spectrum of production. It was also a chance to meet such legends as Henrik Malian–Albert Megerdichian and Tigran Mansourian. I first visited the country in 1991–coming back the next year to shoot Calendar with my wife–Arsine Khanjian–and Ashot Adamian. Since that time–we have made regular trips back to Armenia–and it has become an essential part of our lives. Festivals are an amazing opportunity for filmmakers to share their stories with an audience and with each other."
The festival was launched with the retrospective showing of "Namous"–an Armenian film by Hamo Beknazarian–who founded Armenian Cinematography in 1925.
An estimated 100 films by directors from 58 countries will be shown at the festival. The competition category of the festival includes films by Perdo Almodovar–Krzsystof Zanussi–Aleksander German Junior–and Rakhshan Bani- Etemada.
The documentary film category includes films by Mickael Glavoger–Gunar Bergdal–Sergey Loznica–and Victor Kosakovskiy.