Golden Apricot Yerevan 15th International Film Festival kicks off in Yerevan  

^{Official press release by VivaCell-MTS}


This summer, the cultural life of the capital will be marked by an expected and prominent event. Golden Apricot 15th International Film Festival is to start on July 8, 2018 to unite the festival fans for eight days.

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

Among the speakers were RA Minister of Culture Lilit Makunts, founders of Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival Harutyun Khachatryan, Susanna Harutyunyan, Mikael Stamboltsyan and VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian. The parties highlighted the importance of years of cooperation.

“This year’s festival is of particular importance as it is jubilee. On the way to accomplish our mission over the past 15 years we have remained loyal to festival’s slogan “Crossroads of Cultures and Civilizations”. The Ministry of Culture of Armenia and our General Partner VivaCell-MTS have contributed greatly to the festival. I would like to thank all of our colleagues thanks to whom Golden Apricot is one of the most important international cultural events in the region and has its unique place on the world film market,” said festival founder Harutyun Khachatryan.

The head and the board members of jury for Feature and Documentary International Competition Programs were announced during the conference.

Double Oscar winner, Cannes International Film Festival winner Asghar Farhadi (Iran) is the Head of International Feature Competition Program. Among the Board members are Beki Probst (Germany), president of European Film Market, Boris Khlebnikov (Russia), director, Valerie Massadian (France), French-Armenian film director, Larry Smith (UK), well- known cinematographer.

Well-known filmmaker Ziao Liang (China) will be the Head of International Documentary Competition Program. Among the Board members are Aleksei Vakhrushev (Russia), director, screenwriter, Audrius Stonys (Lithuania), director and producer, Ben van Lieshout (The Netherlands) director and producer, Tamara Stepanyan (France), award winning filmmaker in number of international film festivals, including Golden Apricot Film Festival.

This year the festival will have 15 different posters, each of them presents the history, achievements and challenges of the festival.

“It is with pleasure that I note that this summer also will be full of a cultural life. I welcome the organizers of the initiative and I thank them for the devoted work they have done. I am convinced that, like every year, this year we are also waiting for pleasant film screenings and meetings,” said RA Minister of Culture, Lilit Makunts.

“It’s been 15 years now the Golden Apricot International Film Festival reiterates cinema is one of the pillars and cornerstones in developing the culture. Obviously, the festival educates generations, but it equally shapes a system of values. The proof is the growing number of young people interested and captivated by the art of cinema and the culture in general. This is a truly significant contribution into our country. In this jubilee year VivaCell-MTS stands by the side of the festival,” said VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian.

By the way the festival has established a film development platform GAIFF Pro and it announces call for participation in the Cross-Border Regional Co-Production (C2C) Feature Film Project and Work-In-Progress Markets for 1st or 2nd full-length feature filmmakers from the Lesser Caucasus Region to finance and co-produce their films.

The following filmmaking platform will give an opportunity to meet with international invited producers, sponsors, filmmakers, studios and festivals from July 9-13 in Yerevan and create joint production and collaboration opportunities for a feature film project or a working film. The application deadline for C2C Project Market is June 4, 2018, and for Work-in-Progress Market is June 15, 2018.