The 12th edition of one of the most eagerly awaited Armenian film festivals of the year, Golden Apricot, has brought world famous movie stars to Armenia, turning its capital into a unique cultural center.
On Sunday the honorable guests of the festival Italian and German actresses Ornella Muti and Nastassja Kinski as well as other guests and famous artists walked the red carpet before the opening ceremony held at the National Opera and Ballet Theater in Yerevan.
The opening ceremony was marked by two special awards, Parajanov Thaler Award (honoring a Soviet filmmaker of Armenian origin Sergey Parajanov – 1924-1990) granted by the festival to two of this year’s guests of honor Muti and Kinski.
French-Armenian actor and filmmaker Serge Avedikian noted at the opening ceremony that 2015 was unique since Golden Apricot organized film screenings commemorating of the centennial of the Armenian Genocide.
The 2015 Golden Apricot international film festival was launched with the screening of French-Armenian film director, producer and screenwriter Robert Guédiguian “Crazy Story” film. Guédiguian also heads the jury of the festival’s international feature film competition.
The French-Armenian filmmaker noted that the main goal of the film telling about the Armenian genocide is the presentation of the memory of Armenians.
“It’s always stated that the winners write history and only memory remains for the defeated, but this memory passes through years and again finds ways to create with the help of culture or sometimes weapons,” said the director, hoping that his film would help to get the message about the history of Armenians across the entire world.
On Monday evening the honorable guests of the 12th Golden Apricot international film festival were received by Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan.
This year the festival had received as many as 1,600 applications from 105 countries of the world. A total 76 films have been chosen for the festival.