Yerevan International Film Festival "Golden Apricot" is a Yerevan-based annual film festival. The objectives of the festival are "to present new works by the film directors and producers in Armenia and foreign cinematographers of Armenian descent and to promote creativity and originality in the area of cinema and video art"[1]. The 5th Golden Apricot Film Festival took place in July, 2008.
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The "Golden Apricot" Annual Film Festival was established in 2004 in Yerevan, 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. Canadian-Armenian director Atom Egoyan was named President of the festival since 2005.
The Festival is dedicated to the theme of Crossroads of Cultures and Civilizations, and features a multitude of films representing various nations and religions, collectively depicting the richness of the human experience.
In 2005 the establishment of a network of filmmakers of the region entitled Directors Across Borders was initiated by the "Golden Apricot" Film Festival.[2]
Since 2005 "Golden Apricot" has been functioning under the aegis of the European Cultural Parliament.[3]
The major awards at the YIFF are the Golden Apricot and Silver Apricot prizes for feature, documentary and Armenian panorama films. Lifetime achievement is recognized by the Parajonov's Thaler Award, named in honour of Sergei Parajanov.[4]
| Year | Category | Name | Director |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Lifetime | Wim Wenders, Dariush Mehrjui | -- |
| 2008 | Feature Film | The Mermaid | Anna Melikian |
| 2008 | Documentary | Women See Lot of Things | Meira Asher |
| 2008 | Panorama | The Blue Hour | Eric Nazarian |
| 2007 | Lifetime | Paolo & Vittorio Taviani | -- |
| 2007 | Feature Film | Import/Export | Ulrich Seidl |
| 2007 | Documentary | A Story of People in War and Peace | Vardan Hovhannisyan |
| 2007 | Panorama | Screamers | Carla Garapedian |