The World Premier of LOST BIRDS, a heartwarming film from Turkey, will open the 18th Arpa International Film Festival taking place November 13 to 15, 2015 at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.  This year’s Arpa International Film Festival focuses strongly on humanitarian issues internationally such as genocide, holocaust, human freedom, women’s rights, homelessness and many others.

LOST BIRDS, the Opening night’s World Premier Film is from Turkey in Armenian and Turkish language filmed in Capadoccia, Turkey, by Aren Perdeci and Ela Alyamac.  For these two young co-directors, it took a five year journey to realize their passion project.  They shared directing, producing and writing duties.  Perdeci was also the director of photography of this amazingly beautiful film.  This movie presents a historical tragedy that takes place in 1915, from the point of view of two children.  The story is about Bedo, played by (Heros Agopyan) and Maryam, played by (Dila Uluca), whose beautiful, warm, and happy lives in Anatolia comes to an end when their grandfather played by ( Sarkis Acemoglu) is taken away by soldiers.  Out of extreme fear, their mother, played by (Takuhi Bahar), forbid the children to go outside, but being children, they sneak out to their favorite spot to play, only to come back to an empty home and an empty village. Their fear takes over, and with their bird that they had saved, they embark on a journey toward Aleppo to find their mother, and their fellow villagers.

This beautiful film made by an Armenian and a Turkish filmmaker with passion is a cinematographic beauty to watch.  September issue of “American Cinematographer” magazine has written a nine page article on Lost Birds under the title of “Lost and Found” with photo scenes from the film worth reading.

Arpa’s 18th International Film festival presents the screenings of seven narrative feature films, 11 documentaries, and 27 short films — a cross-cultural program of films delving into myriad of social and cultural experiences.

FEATURE FILM COMPETITION

Lost Birds (2015) | Turkey | Director: Ela Alyamac, Aren Perdeci | Writers: Ela Alyamac, Aren Perdeci | Language: Turkish, Armenian
Three Windows and a Hanging (2014) | Kosovo | Director: Isa Qosja | Writer: Zymber Kelmendi | Language: Albanian
Off (2015) | Serbia | Director: Predrag Stojic | Writer: Marko Krstic | Language: Serbian
Our Village (2013) | Armenia | Director: Yelena Arshakyan | Writer: Hovhannes Yeranyan | Language: Armenian
I Want to Be A King (2014) | Iran | Director: Mehdi Ganji | Writer: Mehdi Ganji | Language: Persian

DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION

Aliyah Dada (2015) | Romania | Director: Oana Giurgiu | Language: English
Armenia Sings on in Our Hearts (2015) | Brazil | Director: Isabella Bablumian | Writer: Isabella Bablumian | Language: English
Armenopolis, Armenian Soul (2015) | Romania | Director: Florin Kevorkian and Isabella Bostan | Writer: Florin Kevorkian | Language: Rumanian
Daylight After a Century (2015) | United Kingdom | Director: Hollie Harrington | Language: English
Goodbye Theresienstadt (2015) | Denmark, Czech Republic | Director: Carl Otta Dethlefsen | Language: Danish
Lee Scratch Perry’s Vision of Paradise (2015) | Germany | Director: Volker Schaner | Writer: Volker Schaner | Language: English
My Life in China (2014) | U.S.A. | Director: Kenneth Eng | Writer: Ehren Parks | Language: Chinese
N64Q: Born Free (2015) | U.S.A., Japan | Director: Sasha Gransjean | Writer: Sasha Gransjean | Language: English
Paul the Birdman (2015) | U.S.A. | Director: Taniel Kilajian | Writer: Taniel Kilajian | Language: English
Superjednostka (2014) | Poland | Director: Teresa Czepiec | Writer: Teresa Czepiec | Language: Polish
Tell Spring Not to Come This Year (2015) | United Kingdom | Director: Michael McEvoy, Saeed Taji Farouky | Language: Dari

SHORT FILM COMPETITION

Ablution | USA, Iran, Canada | Director: Parisa Barani | Writer: Amin El Gamal | Language: English
Bed Bugs and Company (2015) | U.S.A. | Director: Serena Dykman | Writer: Serena Dykman | Language: English
Bad Advice | U.S.A. | Director: Kegham Berajekelian | Writer: Aaron Fitzgerald, Scott Javore, Adam Lesar | Language: English
Caregivers (2014) | Armenia | Director: Viktorya Aleksanyan | Writer: Beniamin Gevorgyan | Language: Armenian
Family Dance | Director: Naré Mkrtchyan | Writer: Chris Commons | Language: Armenian
Gear | U.S.A. | Director: Kevin Adams and Joe Ksander | Writer: Kevin Adams and Joe Ksander | Language: English
Get Up (2012) | Australia | Director: Dan Balcaban | Writer: Dan Balcaban | Language: English
Greenland (2014) | Israel | Director: Oren Gerner | Writer: Oren Gerner | Language: Hebrew
Hazel & Louis: Animal Agents (2014) | U.S.A. | Director: Sy Ozcan, Marissa Madsen | Writer: Sy Ozcan, Marissa Madsen | Language: English
Hursit (2015) | Turkey | Director: Selcen Yilmazoglu | Writer: Selcen Yilmazoglu | Language: Turkish
In The Clouds (En Las Nubes) (2014) | Argentina | Director: Marcelo Mitnik | Writer: Marcelo Mitnik | Language: Spanish
The Jungle (2015) | Turkey | Director: Onur Saylak, Dogu Akal | Writer: Onur Saylak, Dogu Akal | Language: Arabic
L’Homme de I’lle Sandwich (2015) | France | Director: Levon Minasian | Writer: Levon Minasian, Ester Mann | Language: French
The Loss (2015) | Israel | Director: Dekel Nitzan | Writer: Dekel Nitzan | Language: Hebrew
The Loyalist (2015) | South Korea, USA | Director: Minji Kang | Writer: Willem Lee | Language: Korean
Night of the Slasher (2015) | U.S.A | Director: Shant Hamassian | Writer: Shant Hamassian | Language: English
Sabre Dance (2015) / U.S.A | Director: Ilya Rozhkov | Writer: Ilya Rozhkov | Language: English
Seagulls (2014) / United Kingdom | Director: Martin Smith | Writer: Martin Smith | Language: English
Shattered (2015) | Canada | Director: David Hovan | Writer: David Hovan | Language: English
The Story of Snow (2015) | South Korea | Director: Younsik Kim | Writer: Younsik Kim | Language: Korean
Straw Dolls (2015) | U.S.A. | Director: Jon Milano | Writer: Jon Milano | Language: Armenian
Tamara, Echelon (2014) | Romania | Director: Kristina Cepraga Goodwin | Writer: Kristina Cepraga Goodwin | Language: Romanian
Test (2015) | U.S.A. | Director: Jay Lifton | Writer: Jay Lifton, Catherine Ho | Language: English
Up The Valley and Beyond (2013) / U.S.A. | Director: Todd Rosken | Writer: Todd Rosken, Bobby D. Lux | Language: English
Welcome (2014) | Ecuador | Director: Javier Fesser | Writer: Javier Fesser | Language: Spanish
Welcome (2015) | U.S.A. | Director: Serena Dykman | Writer: Serena Dykman | Language: English
While They Were Flying to the Moon (2015) | Serbia | Director: Borisa Simovic | Writer: Borisa Simovic | Language: Serbian