THE WORLD’S MOST DELICIOUS FESTIVAL, MOVIES AND APRICOTS

Hurriyet

July 10 2009
Turkey

ISTANBUL – Turkish directors are in Armenian capital of Yerevan to
attend the International Golden Apricot Film Festival, which will
be organized for the sixth time this year. Directors from all around
the world will gather around the theme of ‘Directors Across Borders’

One after another, renowned international festivals are rolling into
the region this summer. This July, the big festival destination is
the Armenian capital, Yerevan. Between July 12 and 19, more than 110
films from 65 countries, including Turkey, will be shown during the
6th International Vosge Zsiran (Golden Apricot) Film Festival.

One of the most comprehensive film festivals in the Caucasus, the
international festival bears the name apricot, one of the symbols
of Armenia.

Speaking to the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review, the festival’s
program director Michael Stampolsyan and press representative Seda
Papoyan provided information about the festival.

Papoyan said many national and international festivals are organized
in Yerevan in the spring and summer, and added that the city was
ready to be painted the color of apricots and welcome its guests in
July once again.

This year the festival will also feature renowned directors Rob
Nilsson (United States), Jerzy Skolimowski (Poland) and Kohei Oguri
(Japan). Atom Egoyan and his actress wife, Arsineh Khanjan, are also
expected to attend this year’s festival.

In previous years, the festival hosted many other celebrated directors,
including Atom Egoyan (Canada), Wim Wenders (Germany), Abbas Kiarostami
(Iran), Catherine Breillat (France), Nikita Mikhalkov (Russia) and
Goran Paskelevic (Serbia).

Apricots will be blessed

The opening film of the festival will be French director Laurent Tuel’s
"Le Premier Cercle" (The First Circle), starring Jean Reno.

As in previous years, Armenia’s newly harvested apricots will be
blessed during special church ceremonies before the opening of
the festival. In addition to apricots, grapes are also blessed in
churches during the grape harvest in Armenian tradition. Every year,
on the second Sunday of August, grapes are blessed during celebrations
organized for the memory of the Virgin Mary, which are also honored
by the tradition of fasting. The celebrations go back to pre-Christian
times.

Turkish and Armenian directors have been producing common projects for
some time, with mutual filming sessions held in both countries. This
collaboration has been seen at festivals in both Turkey and Armenia.

Turkish films met with Armenian audiences for the first time last
year at the Golden Apricot Festival. This year, the festival will
welcome a Turkish director again, Ozcan Alper, and his film "Sonbahar"
(Autumn). Among thse that were released last year, the film won
a number of national and international awards, such as the Art &
Essay CICAE Prize at the International Locarno Film Festival.

Stampolsyan said examples of Turkish cinema would not only be limited
to Alper’s film, adding that films from contemporary Turkish cinema
would also be screened under the section titled "Directors Across
Borders." "Eniz Rıza from Turkey will be among the jury members of
documentary films," he said.

Papoyan said the festival had many sections. He said films from French,
German, Dutch and Czech cinema would be shown under the titled "One
Day in Europe."

Another attraction at the festival will be "Arabian Nights." Papoyan
said this section would present the masters of Arabian cinema to
the audience. According to Stampolsyan, the most special part of
the festival is the one that is dedicated to the 85th birthday of
Russian director with Armenian origin Sergey Parajanov. The section
will screen the director’s films. There will also be workshops and
panels as part of the festival.