The 21st Yerevan International Film Festival "Golden Apricot" has officially begun and will run from July 7 to 14. This year, the festival will showcase competitive films from various countries as well as works from prestigious film festivals such as Cannes and Berlin. Renowned filmmakers from around the world have arrived in Armenia to present their films and share their expertise.
A unique feature of this year's festival is the absence of the traditional red carpet at the opening ceremony. Instead, carpets crafted by local artisans based on the design of artist David Kochunts have been used, symbolizing the concept of "Point of Reference."
The festival is dedicated to the 100th anniversaries of Charles Aznavour and Sergei Parajanov. The chairman of the feature film competition jury is two-time Oscar winner Alexander Payne. His films will be featured in a retrospective.
Canadian director of Armenian descent Atom Egoyan heads the short film competition jury. His new film "Seven Veils," which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, opened the festival.
The jury of the "Regional Panorama" competition is chaired by Indian-American director Tarsem Singh, best known to Armenian audiences for his music video for Lady Gaga's song "911."
The honorary guest of the festival is actor Kevin Spacey. At the beginning of the festival, distinguished guests walked along the "Point of Reference" carpet, followed by welcome speeches from Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan and Minister of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan.
Artistic Director Karen Avetisyan presented Kevin Spacey with an award for his contribution to world cinema. Festival President Harutyun Khachatryan presented the Parajanov Taler to Atom Egoyan for his contributions to film art.
The three co-founders of the festival - Harutyun Khachatryan, Susanna Harutyunyan, Mikael Stamboltsyan, and Atom Egoyan - jointly announced the start of the festival. The festival is held with the support of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport of the Republic of Armenia and the Yerevan Municipality.
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