Harutyun Khachatryan: One of best film festivals is in Armenia

YEREVAN, APRIL 4, ARMENPRESS: For already seven years in summer months one of the most important event in Armenia’s cultural life is being conducted – “Golden Apricot” international film festival and this year is not an exclusion. Armenpress news agency spoke with the director of the festival, film director Harutyun Khachatryan about the coming 8th “Golden Apricot” film festival.

- Mr Khachatryan when will the 8th “Golden Apricot” international film festival be conducted and how will it differ from previous ones?

- “Golden Apricot” film festival this year will be conducted July 11-17. It will differ from the previous ones first of all with the variety of films and programs. A number of films that will be presented at the festival have already been presented in Berlin, Venice film festivals. Best representatives of film art will arrive in Armenia. I think such like program is enough for a town with 3 million population and is small for a town which has only two cinemas. The slogan of the “Golden Apricot” is “Crossroads of Civilizations and Cultures” which is also our impassioned mantra for building cultural bridges and fostering dialogue.

- How many nominations will be this year? Will the apricot blessing ceremony be held?

- Films are being presented in two international competition sections - feature and documentary. Each competition sector has one Grand Prize Golden Apricot and one Special Mention. The festival has a special pan-Armenian competitive section - Armenian Panorama - for short, feature, documentary, and animation films produced by filmmakers of Armenian descent. The opening of the festival is always marked with a traditional blessing of apricots, for which Armenia is famous.

- Every year within the framework of the festival interesting retrospective programs are being conducted. Will they be conducted this year too?

- Within the framework of the festival this year as well interesting retrospective programs will be conducted. For the first time “Golden Apricot” will have a program of Latin-American films during which Argentinean and Brazil films shot during the recent year will be presented. Retrospective showing of three films of well-known Argentinean filmmaker Lucrecia Martel, laureate of Berlin International film Festoval will be organized. Such retrospective program will be conducted dedicated to the 150th anniversary of unification of the Italian Republic. This year as well master classes will be conducted.

- What is the place of “Golden Apricot” in the pre-context of international film festivals?

- Many know, many speak and wait for the conduction of the “Golden Apricot” film festival. If during the previous years we were urging the film directors to come to Armenia and participate in it, now they know that one of the best film festivals in Armenia.

To inform, annual International Film Festival “Golden Apricot” was established in 2004 in Yerevan, the capital of the Republic of Armenia, by the “Golden Apricot” Fund for Cinema Development, the Armenian Association of Film Critics and Cinema Journalists, supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, the Ministry of Culture of Republic of Armenia and Benevolent Fund for Cultural Development. The organizers of the Golden Apricot International Film Festival are: Harutyun Khachatryan, Film Director and Festival Director; Mikayel Stamboltsyan, Film Critic and Program Director; and Susanna Harutyunyan, Film Critic and Artistic Director. Internationally acclaimed Canadian-Armenian director Atom Egoyan was named President of the festival since 2005.