GOLDEN APRICOT INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL CONTINUES ITS SERIES OF
SURPRISES

YEREVAN, JULY 5, NOYAN TAPAN. Jeanne Moreau, the most expected and the
brightest guest of the Golden Apricot (Voske Tsiran) Fourth
International Film Festival to be held on July 9-14 in Yerevan, cannot
arrive in Armenia due to taking part in the Avignon Festival. However,
as Haroutiun Khachatrian, the festival’s Director, stated at the July 4
press conference, no less famous European directors and producers will
fill that gap.

In H. Khachatrian’s words, this year festival’s opening ceremony will
take place in Liberty Square, in the evening of July 9. The ceremony
will be followed by the show of the film "Lark Farm" of Paolo and
Vittorio Taviani brothers, which will announce the festival’s start. In
H. Khachatrian’s words, the purpose of organizing the opening ceremony
in Liberty Square is to give an opportunity to everybody to take part
in that wonderful Yerevan film holiday. Seats for 1500 people will be
placed in the square for that day. Besides, every evening, at 10-12:00,
the best films participating in the festival will be shown in the
square.

H. Khachatrian said that one of many new things in this year’s
festival’s program is creation of new commissions of the International
Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) and International Church
Organization. Besides, a Life Tree prize has been also instituted this
year: one of the names of the films hanging on the tree will be awarded
a monetary prize of 500 thousand drams by the principle of accidental
choice.

The festival’s Director stated that this year for the first time
monetary prizes have been instituted for international feature and
documentary films, in the amount of 2 and 1 mln drams, respectively.