The annual international film festival “Golden Apricot” opens today in Yerevan, RIA Novosti reports. Over 100 films from 62 countries will be screened.
The festival will be opened by a retrospective of the film “Mayrig” (“Mother”,1991), directed by Henri Verneuil, a prominent French filmmaker of Armenian origin. The film tells the story of an Armenian family that moved to Marcel to escape the genocide. Claudia Cardinale, the world famous Italian actress who starred in the film, will assist at the opening ceremony.
The festival is due to finish on the 18th of July. The Serge Avedikian film “Dog Island” has been chosen as the closing picture.
According to tradition, there are three main nominations: live-action, documentary and “Armenian panorama”. 13 feature films, including 2 Armenian ones, will compete for the first nomination, 14 (one Armenian) for the second and 17 (nine Armenian) for the third.
The prize winner of the live-action nomination will be presented 2 million drams (5.2 thousand dollars), the other two winners will receive 1 million drams. World famous filmmakers such as Fridrik Thor Fridriksson are on the jury. The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) and the Ecumenical jury will also participate in the festival.
The out-of-competition program also includes many interesting premieres from Russian, Armenian and Turkish producers, festival director Mikaep Stambolcan noted.
Several anniversaries will be celebrated in the framework of the festival, for example the 90th birthday of Henri Verneuil.
The annual film festival “Golden Apricot” was founded in 2004 and is now one of the most prestigious festivals in the region.
