ArmInfo. The 16th Golden Arpicot International Film Festival summed up. On July 14 the final press conference of the festival took place. It should be mentioned that during the closing ceremony the jury announced the winners. According to official source ''Ray & Liz'' by Richard Billingham won ''Golden Apricot'' in Full-Length Films Competiton. ''Beanpole'' by Kantemir Balagov was awarded ''Silver Apricot'' in the same competition. ''Midnight Traveler'' by Hassan Fazili gained jury's special mention.
''Driving lessons'' by Marziyeh Riahi won ''Golden Apricot'' in Regional Short Film Competition. ''Prisoner of society'' by Rati Tsiteladze was awarded ''Silver Apricot'' in the same competition. Genadzi Melqonyan special prize was awarded to the ''Baina'' by Lilit Petrosyan. ''Horizon'' by Tinatin Kajrishvili was awarded FIPRESCI prize in Regional Panorama Competition.
In interwiev with ArmInfo correspondent, film critic, one of the founders of the Golden Apricot film festival, Susanna Harutyunyan noted that, on the whole, the festival was a success. <9 months ago, when we started to work on organizing the festival, we transferred the management to a new team, relatively new. Because these people grew up and worked with us all the time. This team has been fostered to some extent. And we are very proud of the new generation and we believe that the experiment was a success in terms of the transfer of experience, new concepts, ideas and "new blood" that the young people brought to this festival. And I think that without the combination of our experience and their enthusiasm, the festival will have no future, "she said. Speaking about the organization of the festival, Harutyunyan stressed that for 15 years there have been both great successes and certain problems, and this year, in this context, is no exception. "But until the child falls, he will not grow up," the film critic said.
Regarding the film, which became the owner of "Golden Apricot", Mrs. Harutyunyan stressed that in general she agrees with the opinion of the jury. <This is a tough social drama, representing a cut of British society>, the film critic said, noting that the film really leaves a strong and somewhat depressing impression. "It so happens that we think that certain problems can exist only in our region, due to difficulties, in particular, related to the economic situation. But it turns out that there is a certain level of people, and despite the fact that they live in one of the richest countries in the world, they have problems that are peculiar to us, "she said.
At the same time, Harutyunyan expressed satisfaction with the nomination by the jury of the Special Mention, which was awarded to the documentary film of the Afghan director Hassan Fazili "Midnight Traveler". <This director is a refugee from Afghanistan, and for 3 years he has documented his own life from three telephones - all the way that he traveled, right up until the moment he received a residence permit in Europe. This is quite an emotional journey, "Harutyunyan shared her impressions.
This year the 16th 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 was 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 was director Pippo Mezzapesa (Italy). The jury also included ?perator Norayr Kasper (Canada) and Clermont-Ferrand Film Festival Program Director Georges Bollon.