YEREVAN, JUNE 17, ARMENPRESS. Armenia has potential in filmmaking which must be restored and developed, Parajanov’s country requires a modern filmmaking model, EU Ambassador to Armenia Piotr Switalski said, referring to the reputed 20^th century Armenian film director and artist Sergei Parajanov.

“The role of Golden Apricot Foundation must be specially valued for initiating the development of the Law on Cinema,” the EU ambassador said at parliamentary hearings on possible legislative solutions in the movie industry.

“The EU decided to support this initiative and efforts for a number of reasons. The first reason is that we believe culture is a very powerful tool for Armenia, which can elevate not only the country’s image, but also contribute to economic development. The second reason is that we believe that filmmaking is one of those sectors where Armenia has potential, which must be restored and developed, Parajanov’s homeland has the need for a modern filmmaking model. Third, we want to support Armenia’s participation in the EU’s Creative Europe program,” Switalski said.

He said that Armenia is already participating in two events on the level of subprojects, and the EU believes that the country will succeed, and the projects will benefit Armenia. He said the third subproject concerns the mass media. “We heard in Brussels that Armenia wants to participate in the 2020-2022 cooperation program, and culture is one of the important factors to making this cooperation possible,” the EU ambassador said, noting that they will do their best for Armenia’s participation in the Creative Europe project to continue.

He expressed hope that the parliamentary hearings and debates will be a success, and parliament will be able to adopt the Law on Cinema, which will be “powerful, strong and realistic”.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan