16th Golden Apricot Yerevan IFF kicks off in Yerevan

 

This summer Armenia's cultural life will be marked by an expected and prominent event. Golden Apricot 16th International Film Festival is to start on July 7th.

 

Today the representatives of the Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival, the RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport and Festival’s General Partner VivaCell-MTS announced the start of the film festival that is very popular both in Armenia and abroad.

 

During the joint press conference, the organizers of the event presented to the journalists the official poster of the film festival, as well as discussed the upcoming events.

 

“This year the festival has undergone some changes since the festival's staff has been changed. The staff of the festival has been filled by young people who prepare for the 16th Golden Apricot with great responsibility and do everything to make it a true feast. The changes were also made in the government, as the union of ministries took place, and from now on we will cooperate with the RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport. Our general partner VivaCell-MTS has not changed. The company is one of the devotees of art, particularly cinema and the Golden Apricot, for which we are very happy and grateful,” Founding President of the Golden Apricot Yerevan IFF Harutyun Khachatryan noted.

 

“The activation and development of the cultural life, especially national cinematography is of great importance to VivaCell-MTS. Over the years, our company has been supporting filmmakers within the framework of the Golden Apricot Film Festival. Along with being an important stimulus for cinematography, the film festival is making a great work to make Armenia a recognizable country with its rich culture,” VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian said.

Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Ministry of RA Ara Khzmalyan especially emphasized that Golden Apricot is one of the projects that raises the country's rating in the world. "For us, the festival has a strategic significance, as the festivals of this format are professional good mediums to present the country and its cultural heritage to the world," Ara Khzmalyan noted.

During the press conference the it was announced that renowned filmmaker Alexander Mindadze will be the chairman of the Feature competition, and the special guest of the festival is Mexican celebrity filmmaker, winner of international competitions Carlos Reygadas. 

This year the IFF has received over 740 films from different countries and has selected a number of films from prestigious international film festivals such as the festivals in Cannes, Berlin, Rotterdam, for the program. The festival will have feature films (including fiction and documentary films), as well as short regional film contests; the non-competition program will feature a regional panorama contest. The rest of the programs such as Yerevan Premieres, Retrospectives, and Tribute are non-competitive.

 

The “Golden Apricot” IFF has a new logo, which reflects the unique approach of the new festival team to the 16th anniversary. The logo is minimalistic, it represents the Armenian letter “Ծ” (“Ts”) and through that letter the designer tried to present the apricot, which is the symbol of the festival.