“Golden Apricot”

The only successful project in Armenia is cultural

On July 11th the 8th international ‘Golden Apricot’ cinema festival opened in Yerevan. The festival is held under the auspices of the Armenian Ministry of Culture, supported by ‘VillaSell – MTS’. The festival will last until July 18th and will screen 100 films from 62 countries, including Jordan, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Costa Rica.
The festival started with the traditional blessing of an apricot in the ‘Surb Zoravar’ church (‘Saint Leader’). Premier Tigran Sarksyan, Minister of Culture Asmik Pogosyan, Mayor of Yerevan Gagik Beglaryan, artists, directors and guests were present. There were stars made for film celebrities Amo Beknazaryan, Ruben Mamylyan, Sergey Paradzhanov and Anri Bernoyiu at the ‘Walk of Fame’ near the ‘Moscow’ cinema theatre. The first film shown was called ‘Mayrik’ by Anri Vernoya, a story about an Armenian family that survived the genocide of 1915 by migrating to France. Claudia Cardinale, Omar Sherif and Rishar Berri played in the film. Claudia Cardinale, together with the director’s son, Patryk Malakyan, and producer Alen Terzyan, presented a retrospective of the film. Cardinale will be awarded for her contribution to world cinematography. The festival will be ended with a film called ‘A Dog’s Story’, the best short motion film at the Cannes film festival.

The program of the festival consists of two parts – competitive and non-competitive film screenings. The competitive demonstration has 3 programs: ‘International feature film’ (13 films), ‘International documentary’ (14 films) and ‘Armenian panoramic picture’ (17 films). The festival has also prepared evenings dedicated to legends of Armenian and Soviet cinema, such as director Henrikh Malyan (85th anniversary), actors Mger Mkrtchyan and Khoren Abramyan (80th anniversary), director of photography Albert Yavuryan (75th anniversary) and Armen Dzhigarkhanyan (75th anniversary). There will be anniversary celebrations of the festival’s president Atom Egoyan (50th anniversary), as well as Henri Vernier (90th anniversary). The organizers have prepared a jazz band contest at Charles Aznavour Square, in front of the ‘Moscow’ cinema theater, where they will perform music from well-known films. The contest winner will be determined on July 16th. The program also includes a film screening in the ‘Park of Lovers’.
The ‘Golden Apricot’ festival began in 2004. Its authors were documentary director Arutiun Khachatryan, screen writer Michael Stamboltsyan, cinema critic Susanna Arutiun and the Canadian-Armenian director Atom Egoyan. Member of the National Academy of Sciences and ethnographer Levon Abramyan believes that the ‘Golden Apricot’ festival is the only successful cultural project in Armenia, due to its international recognition.
Abramyan considers that the festival is popular not just because of the professional level of its organization but also its symbolic significance – the ritual blessing of the apricot in the church. He noted that the apricot is not as much of an Armenian symbol as the pomegranate. There is a theory that the Romans brought the apricot from Armenia in the first century AD, calling it ‘the Armenian apple’, from which Carl Linnaeus gave it the scientific name ‘armenica vulgaris’ or ‘Armenian apple’.

Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively for VK