By Hasmik Hovhannisyan
Armenia's 23rd Golden Apricot International Film Festival officially opened in Yerevan on Monday, bringing together award-winning filmmakers and films from the world's leading festivals, including Cannes, Venice, Berlin and Locarno.
The festival, running from July 12 to 19, features 10 films in its international competition. Four of them explore stories from the Arab world, with productions connected to Palestine, Qatar, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Libya.
Founded in 2004, Golden Apricot has become the South Caucasus' leading international film festival, with a focus on auteur cinema while also showcasing mainstream and independent productions. Over the years it has welcomed prominent filmmakers including Wim Wenders, Darren Aronofsky, Abbas Kiarostami, Asghar Farhadi, Kim Ki-duk and Atom Egoyan, as well as actors Ornella Muti, Nastassja Kinski and Claudia Cardinale.
The festival's Yerevan Premiere section presents films that have recently screened or won awards at major international festivals. Among this year's guests are Oscar-winning Polish director Paweł Pawlikowski, presenting Fatherland, his new film inspired by the life of German writer Thomas Mann, and French-Armenian actor and director Simon Abkarian, who received a standing ovation at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.
The festival opened with Tamar Stepanyan's Arno's Country, which also served as the opening film of the 2025 Locarno Film Festival. The film follows a woman who travels to Armenia after the death of her husband.
Golden Apricot will also host retrospective screenings, including Béla Tarr's seven-hour classic Sátántangó, presented as a tribute following the Hungarian director's recent death. French cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel, known for his work on Amélie and several Harry Potter films, is among the festival's honorary guests.
Alongside film screenings, the festival will organize workshops, masterclasses and meetings with filmmakers. Winners of the competition sections will be announced on July 20.
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