The 13th edition of Armenia’s beloved film festival, Golden Apricot will feature 92 films this year as part of the out of competition programs categorized as Yerevan Premieres, Retrospectives and Tributes. Award-winning films from Cannes, Berlin, Venice International Film Festivals and works of renowned filmmakers are on the program.
Tatevik Manukyan, who heads the festival’s international section says Golden Apricot has decided to present to the viewer in Armenia works which were favorites at Cannes, which created a lot of buzz but nevertheless did not take home awards. These movies will be part of the Yerevan Premieres and screened not only in Cinema Moscow, but also at Kinopark, Cinema Star.
Harutyun Khachatryan, founding director of Golden Apricot says the festival faces many challenges. As a living organism connected to Armenia, the festival is directly affected by everything that goes on in the country. The April war was a challenge, many were hesitant to come, says the director.
Serbian director Želimir Žilnik, one of the major figures of the Yugoslav Black Wave, will present a Retrospective Program of his documentaries together with three works from prominent film director and cinematographer Fred Kelemen’s, and three films with famous actress Jacqueline Bisset. Želimir Žilnik will also head this year’s International Documentary Competition Jury.
It is very important to bring cult figures like Žilnik to Yerevan, introduce them to our audience and Armenia. It would be interesting for them to discover Armenia and Armenian cinema, this environment, says Susanna Haroutyounyan, the artistic director of the festival.
Composer Tigran Mansuryan was elected Head of the Jury of Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival this year. The 13th Golden Apricot has also introduced a technical novelty . A mobile app, which will in days be available for download on the Google Market or Apple store, will help the audience access the program and purchase tickets online.
