ArmInfo.Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concerts Complex, red carpet, paparazzi flashes, music, famous faces of the Armenian cinema world, over 2 thousand guests - the 16th Golden Apricot International Film Festival opened in Yerevan.
As previously reported, the ceremony will kick off with movie "Parasite" by Joon-ho Bong (South Korea) which won the Palme d'Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.
"It will be a great ''Yerevan Premieres'' ," said Hasmik Hovhannisyan, executive director of the film festival. Program manager Karen Avetisyan noted that it was with great difficulty that the Armenian audience was able to watch such an exclusive movie.
Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of the Republic of Armenia Ara Khzmalyan also attended the opening ceremony. He noted that the festival provided an opportunity for the Armenian film industry to appear before the world, and for the Armenian audience to get acquainted with world film processes. <Golden apricot, in my opinion, has not yet fully used its capabilities and has not yet fully realized its potential. And this is good. Because it says that "Golden Apricot" is a festival that will still grow and develop, "he stressed.
This year, according to the film festival Founding director Harutyun Khachatryan, absolutely everything has changed, starting with the approach and ending with the design, thanks to a new team in which young people were involved. "Only our general partner company Viva Sell-MTS, which has been supporting the festival for 16 years, has remained the same," he said.
To note, over 100 films will be shown during the festival. This year the IFF has received over 740 films from different countries and has selected a number of films from prestigious international film festivals such as the festivals in Cannes, Berlin, Rotterdam, for the program. The jury president of the 16th GAIFF International Long-Term Competition Program is Aleksandr Mindadze. The jury consists of director Nicolas Wadimoff (Switzerland), director, Tehran International Film Festival President Reza Mirkarimi (Iran), producer, Executive Director of Tribeca Film Festival Amy Hobby (USA), producer Elizabeth Karlsen (UK), film critic Paolo Bertolin (Italy), actress, director Nino Kirtadze (France). The jury president of the regional short film competition is director Pippo Mezzapesa (Italy). The jury also includes ?perator Norayr Kasper (Canada) and Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival Program Director Georges Bollon. The best film of the feature films competition will be presented during the closing ceremony of the IFF.