Golden Apricot festival symbol of Armenian culture - Artur Poghosyan

The GOLDEN APRICOT Yerevan International Film Festival in a joint press conference with the Ministry of Culture of RA, general Partner VivaCell-MTS and the Yerevan Municipality announced the 12th edition of the festival, according to the gaiff.am. 

The speakers were: Artur Poghosyan (Deputy Minister of Culture of RA), Ralph Yirikian (VivaCell-MTS General Manager), Aram Sukiasyan (Deputy Mayor), Harutyun Khachatryan (GOLDEN APRICOT IFF Founder-Director), Mikayel Stamboltsyan (GOLDEN APRICOT IFF Program Director) and Susanna Harutyunyan (GOLDEN APRICOT IFF Artistic Director).

Mr Poghosyan said that the GOLDEN APRICOT festival is an international competition that has in recent years become “our cultural symbol.”

In all the categories, films dedicated to the Armenian Genocide will be screened.

“The ministers and deputy ministers of culture from a number of states will participate in the program Directors across Borders this year,” Mr Poghosyan said.
 
Mr Yirikian noted that the festival is raising international awareness of Armenia, doing do better and better year by year.

“VivaCell-MTS, which appreciates art very much, will continue supporting this festival for it to gain even higher international ranks,” he said.

Aram Sukiasyan, a deputy mayor of Yerevan, said that the capital is ready to host foreign guests, ensuring the necessary atmosphere for the kind of cultural event. “We will have several open-air screenings in Yerevan to promote a cinematographic environment,” he said, expressing hope that the guests will leave Armenia deeply impressed.

Thanking the public and private sectors for assistance, the festival’s director, Harutyun Khachatryan, emphasized the role of cultural sponsors as the main pillars of the event.

The festival’s programs’ director, Mikael Stamboltsyan, added that they also have a rich extra-contest program for this year. “There are two programs dedicated to the Genocide centennial,” he said, elaborating further on their names and contents.

“We have two good large-scale programs: New French Movie and New German Movie, which are quite rich. So new names are going to be introduced,” he said, promising also Yerevan movie premiers.

The festival is expanding to cover more films and a greater number of participating countries, said Susanna Harutyunyan, the artistic director. “This year, we received more than 1,600 participation bids from 105 countries,” she said, noting that there have been applications also from the African continent.