Film festival set to open on Tuesday

By Naush Boghossian
Staff Writer

Daily news.com
Saturday, October 02, 2004

GLENDALE — Less than a decade after it was launched to promote only
Armenian filmmakers, the Arpa International Film Festival has evolved
into a prestigious showcase for filmmakers from around the world.

The six-day film festival, celebrating its seventh year, starts
Tuesday and will feature 60 films by artists from 19 countries
including Botswana, the Czech Republic, Russia, Mexico, Pakistan and
Iran, all with one central theme: human struggles.

“Every year, we get more countries in our festival and people calling
from all around the globe to submit their films,” said festival
committee member Alex Kalognomos.

“While we still have a core of Armenian filmmakers submitting films
from the diaspora, every year it’s more representative of the world at
large.”

The nonprofit Arpa Foundation for Film, Music and Art, or AFFMA, was
founded in Los Angeles — home to the largest population of Armenians
outside Armenia — with the purpose of supporting filmmakers who
explore subjects of social and cultural importance including diaspora,
exile and multiculturalism.

“It’s about people who have turned great misfortune into stories of
human resilience. That’s what this film festival is about,” Kalognomos
said.

“It’s about global empathy and the love of humanity, especially at a
time when we are at war, and that we can do it if only through the
love of cinema.”

The festival — named for the Armenian word for a life-giving water
source — draws about 2,500 people a year to its screenings and
parties.

Next Sunday’s awards banquet, to be held at the Sheraton Universal
Hotel, will honor producers Robert Papazian and James Hirsch.

This year’s films tell stories including a Japanese-American baseball
pitcher’s plight in a U.S. internment camp in World War II in “Day of
Independence”; modernism clashing with tradition for a teacher in
post-revolutionary Iran in “The Fifth Reaction”; and a young woman’s
humanity being cruelly rejected as she is placed on the auction block
in pre-Civil War America in “Bid’em In.”

Stories that revolve around life in America include “Compton Cowboy,”
about a young African-American boy living in Compton who grew up
dreaming about becoming a country music singer, and “Poster Boy,”
about a senator’s son coming out to his father about being gay during
his campaign.

The festival, which was once restricted to Armenian filmmakers, began
accepting submissions from non-Armenians within two years of the
organization’s inception.

“In the beginning, AFFMA as a small organization catered to young,
aspiring filmmakers and other artists,” said screenwriter Paul
Peterson, who serves on the group’s board of directors. “Over the
years, with its success becoming greater each year, AFFMA has opened
up to artists of all caliber, from neophyte to veteran filmmaker.”

What helped propel the festival to a more prestigious level was
getting ArcLight Cinemas on board, a coup for the foundation.

Even though the organization had shown films at local studios,
ArcLight allowed its movies to be seen by the general public.

“ArcLight made Arpa visible to the public at large, and it wasn’t by
invitation only, and in that sense, ArcLight has been fantastic,”
Peterson said.

Though relatively small compared with the Hollywood Film Festival and
the AFI Film Festival — also hosted by the theater — Arpa has always
been well-received and well-attended by the public, said Tracy
Hawkins, director of strategic alliances for ArcLight Cinemas.

“I think they have done a really good job choosing films to be in the
festival that can cross over to people other than Armenians,” Hawkins
said. Arpa is one of about 10 festivals they hold each year. “Through
all their films, they have a way of touching all cultures.”

As the organization gets more involved in the industry, its leaders
say, it will only grow in its role as an international festival.

“I think there are no limits to how big and how prestigious it could
become. Am I saying it will ever be as big as the Cannes Film
Festival? No. But that’s not its purpose,” Peterson said.

“For what started out as a small community festival, it has now
blossomed into a legitimate international festival, which in time will
only get bigger and better.”

Naush Boghossian, (818) 546-3306 naush.boghossian@dailynews.com