The 23rd Annual Arpa International Film Festival (Arpa IFF) announced its full lineup of 65 films from 19 countries, for this year which will take place online this year.
Arpa International Film Festival
Arpa International Film Festival (Arpa IFF) is dedicated to cultivating cultural understanding and global empathy by creating a dynamic forum for international cinema. Over the past 23 years, the festival has bridged cultural divides by fostering dialogue among people of diverse backgrounds. By showcasing local and international films that explore critical issues such as war, genocide, diaspora, dual identities, exile and multiculturalism, Arpa IFF has solidified its role in safeguarding films that continue to make a social impact.
Arpa International Film Festival started in 1997 and takes place in Hollywood, California, USA
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Turkish Film LOST BIRDS is Big Winner of 2015 Arpa International Film Festival
The Turkish film LOST BIRDS directed by Ela Alyamac and Aren Perdeci is the big winner of the 2015 Arpa International Film Festival, taking the awards for Best Feature Film, Best Director for Ela Alyamac and Aren Perdeci, and Armin T. Wegner Humanitarian Awards. MY LIFE IN CHINA directed by Kenneth Eng is the winner of the Best Documentary Award.
Lost Birds is set in 1915 in an Armenian village in Anatolia. Bedo and Maryam return from their secret dovecote only to find an empty house and a ghost village. The children embark on a journey to search for their mother, along with their bird ‘Bacik’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URtvPLTQO4c
My Life in China is a personal film that takes viewers on a journey to rural China where an emotional revelation takes place.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKP9UiWcawU
The complete list of winners of 2015 Arpa International Film Festival
Best Feature Film
Lost Birds (2015) | Turkey | Director: Ela Alyamac, Aren Perdeci | Writers: Ela Alyamac, Aren Perdeci | Language: Turkish, Armenian
Best Documentary
My Life in China (2014) | U.S.A. | Director: Kenneth Eng | Writer: Ehren Parks | Language: Chinese
Best Short Film
The Loyalist (2015) | South Korea, USA | Director: Minji Kang | Writer: Willem Lee | Language: Korean
Best Director
Ela Alyamac and Aren Perdeci, Lost Birds
Best Screenplay
Zymber Kelmendi, Three Windows and a Hanging (2014) | Kosovo | Language: Albanian
Lifetime Achievement
Esai Morales
Armin T. Wegner Humanitarian
Lost Birds, Ela Alyamac and Aren Perdeci (writers-directors-producers)
Rising Star
David Dastmalchian
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World Premiere of Turkish Film LOST BIRDS to Kick Off 18th Arpa International Film Festival
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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URtvPLTQO4c
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
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“37: A Final Promise” by Randall Batinkoff Wins Best Film at 2014 Arpa International Film Festival
“37: A Final Promise” 17th Annual Arpa International Film Festival WinnerThe 17th Annual Arpa International Film Festival wrapped with the annual Awards Ceremony, and “37: A Final Promise” by Randall Batinkoff was the big winner, taking home the Best Feature Film Award, along with the Best Director Award for Randall Batinkoff. In the film, haunted rock star, Adam Webb, plans to fulfill a vow to kill himself on his 37th birthday to atone for a horrible crime he committed as a child. With only 12 weeks to go before his expiration date (and release of his final album) he meets and falls in love with Jemma Johnstone, who has a dark secret of her own.
“When My Sorrow Died: The Legend of Armen RA and The Theremin” by Robert Nazar Arjoyan won the Best Documentary Film Award“When My Sorrow Died: The Legend of Armen RA and The Theremin” by Robert Nazar Arjoyan won the Best Documentary Film Award. Glamorously eccentric and enigmatic Theremin master Armen Ra recounts his dynamic journey in this life-spanning, award winning, documentary that mixes rare concert performances, candid interviews, and archive material with the magical power of music that can alchemize ancient sorrow into timeless beauty.
Winners
http://youtu.be/X0B8Ib-x0OU
Best Feature Film Award: “37: A Final Promise” by Randall Batinkoff (USA).
Best Director Award: “37: A Final Promise” by Randall Batinkoff (USA).
Best Documentary Film Award: “When My Sorrow Died: The Legend of Armen RA and The Theremin” by Robert Nazar Arjoyan (USA).
Best Short Film Award: “Arena” by Martin Rath (Armenia/Poland).
Best Screenplay Award: “Tevanik” by Jivan Avetisyan (Armenia).
Best Music Video Award: “Rich Husband” (Shohare Pooldar) by Shervin Youssefian (USA).
Best Feature Audience Choice Award: “Toastmaster” by Eric Boadella and Martin Yernazian (Spain/USA).
Best Documentary Audience Choice Award: “Hannah: Buddhism’s Untold Journey” Marta Gyorgy Kessler and Adam Penn (UK).
Best Short Film Audience Choice Award: “Return of the Tyke” by Garo Berberian (UK).
via asbarez
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Arpa International Film Festival Announces 2014 Film Lineup
I Believe in UnicornsThe 17th annual Arpa International Film Festival will be held November 14-16th, 2014 at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. For the 17th year, the lineup includes award winning films including: As it Used to Be and Sombras de Azul, along with SXSW nominated, I Believe in Unicorns.
“We’re thrilled about this years festival line-up, which includes both domestic and international films and filmmakers, ready to showcase their work,” said Festival Director, Michael Ashjian. “It’s our goal to stay true to our mission in cultivating awareness of important topics that affect our society through the medium of film. We can’t wait to share these films with everyone!”
SHORT FILMS
Arena (2013)
Country: Poland
Director: Martin Rath
Writer: Martin Rath
Producer: Marcin MalatynskiAs It Used to Be (2013)
Country: France
Director: Clément Gonzalez
Writer: Clément Gonzalez
Producer: Clément GonzalezAtrophy (2014)
Country: USA
Director: Hovig Kazandjian
Writer: Hovig Kazandjian
Producer: Danny Simonzad, Shervin YoussefianCassandra (2014)
Country: France, USA
Director: Guy-Roger Duvert
Writer: Guy-Roger Duvert
Producer: Guy-Roger Duvert, Rudolph FalaiseDistance (2014)
Country: USA
Director: Ismael Gomez III
Writer: Ismael Gomez III
Producer: Tyler Munyon, Yassel IglesiasEclipse (2013)
Country: Armenia
Director: Ara Yernjakyan
Writer: Ara Yernjakyan
Producer: None ListedThe Eulogy of Ivy O’Connor (2013)
Country: USA
Director: Shervin Youssefian
Writer: Sophie Jordan
Producer: Shervin Youssefian, Danny SimonzadFamilies Are Forever (2013)
Country: USA
Director: Vivian Kleiman
Writer: None Listed
Producer: Vivian Kleiman
Duration: 00:20:39L’Homme du Passé (2013)
Country: France
Director: Matt Beurois
Writer: Matt Beurois
Producer: Matt BeuroisMartin (2014)
Country: USA
Director: Justin Lee
Writer: Justin Lee
Producer: Ik-Tong RyoNajes (2014)
Country: Iran
Director: Bahram & Bahman Hajaboloo
Writer: Bahram & Bahman Hajaboloo
Producer: None ListedNo Love Lost (2013)
Country: United Kingdom
Director: Skekhar Bassi
Writer: Skekhar Bassi, Shalinder Bassi
Producer: Gemma Lloyd, Helen Silver, Skekhar Bassi, Shalinder BassiOne Step Forward (2011)
Country: USA
Director: Joel Marsh, Benjamin Crowell
Writer: Joel Marsh, Benjamin Crowell
Producer: Joel Marsh, Benjamin CrowellReturn of the Tyke (2014)
Country: United Kingdom
Director: Garo Berberian
Writer: Garo Berberian, Ben Hodgson
Producer: Garo Berberian, Paul HellardWe Are Enemies (2014)
Country: USA
Director: Ilya Rozhkov
Writer: Ilya Rozhkov
Producer: Egor Povolotskiy, Janek AmbrosZugzwang (2013)
Country: Spain, USA
Director: Yolanda Centeno
Writer: Yolanda Centeno
Producer: Yolanda Centeno, Lavinia BarsottiSnail
Country: USA
Director: Deborah Attoinese
Writer: Deborah Attoinese
Producer: Deborah Attoinese, Clara RonkFly
Country: USA
Director: Joel Marsh
Writer: Joel Marsh, Gray Cusack
Producer: Joel Marsh, Gray CusackJust Be Yourself
Country: USA
Director: Stuart Davis
Writer: Stuart Davis
Producer: Sebastian SegalFEATURE FILMS
I Believe in Unicorns (2014)
Country: USA
Director: Leah Meyerhoff
Writer: Leah Meyerhoff
Producer: Heather RaeSombras de Azul (2013)
Country: Cuba, Mexico, USA
Director: Kelly Daniela Norris
Writer: Kelly Daniela Norris
Producer: Kelly Daniela Norris, Travis PittmanToastmaster (2013)
Country: Spain, USA
Director: Eric Boadella
Writer: Eric Boadella
Producer: Eric Boadella, Hermes Marco, Martin Yernazian,37: A Final Compromise
Country: USA
Director: Randall Batinkoff
Writer: Randall Batinkoff, Jesse Stratton
Producer: Randall Batinkoff, Guy Blews, Leila DjansiOdd Brodsky
Country: USA
Director: Cindy Baer
Writer: Matthew Irving and Cindy Baer
Producer: Cindy Baer and Thomat HatsiosNeutral Zone
Country: Armenia
Director: Artak Zilfimyan
Writer: Artak Zilfimyan
Producer: Tiran Hayrapetyan
Duration: 01:3:00
Language: EnglishDOCUMENTARIES
The Amazing Mr. Ash (2014)
Country: USA
Director: Brian Gersten
Writer: None Listed
Producer: Brian GerstenBorn in Adana (2014)
Country: Canada
Director: David Hovan
Writer: David Hovan
Producer: David HovanHannah: Buddhism’s Untold Journey (2014)
Country: United Kingdom
Director: Adam Penny
Writer: Adam Penny, Marta György-Kessler
Producer: None ListedMusic is a Universal Language (2014)
Country: Serbia and Montenegro
Director: Milos Drobnjakovic
Writer: Milos Drobnjakovic
Producer: Milos Drobnjakovic, Natasa PajovicMusic to Madness – the Story of Komitas (2014)
Country: Canada, USA
Director: David Deranian
Writer: David Deranian
Producer: David DeranianThe No Name Painting Association (2013)
Country: China, USA
Director: Joe Griffin
Writer: Rene Balcer
Producer: Rene BalcerOracles of Pennsylvania Avenue (2013)
Country: Egypt, USA
Director: Tim Wilkerson
Writer: Tim Wilkerson
Producer: Tim WilkersonParty Line (2014)
Country: USA
Director: Alan Magee
Writer: Alan Magee
Producer: Alan MageeYou Have His Eyes (2014)
Country: USA
Director: Christopher Wilson
Writer: Not Listed
Producer: Christopher WilsonStill in Memory of the Quake
Country: Armenia
Director: Anzhela Frangyan
Writer: Anzhela Frangyan
Producer: Arax Tadevosyan, Gohar MkitaryanApricot, Blessed Tree of Armenia
Country: Armenia
Director: Shirak Khojayan
Writer: Shirak Khojayan
Producer: Shirak Khojayan
When My Sorrow DiedCountry: USA
Director: Robert Nazar Arjoyan
Producer: Matt Huffman
Duration: 01:25:00
Language: EnglishMUSIC VIDEOS
Dasha Hara (2013)
Country: Australia, Canada
Director: Bryn OhPis’ma vojny (2014)
Country: Russian Federation
Director: Vera Tomilova
Writer: Vadim Gassanov
Producer: Alexander ZhukovToo Soon (2013)
Country: United Kingdom
Director: Jeremy Harvey
Writer: Jeremy Harvey
Producer: None ListedShohare Pooldar
Country: USA
Director: Shervin Youssefian
Writer: Shervin Youssefian
Producer: Erwin Khatchikian
Duration: 00:03:30
Language: Farsi w/ English Subtitles
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French Film Azad Wins 15th Arpa International Film Festival
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BEST DOCUMENTARY Feature Award for THE SUFFERING GRASSES WHEN ELEPHANTS FIGHT, IT IS THE GRASS THAT SUFFERS[/caption]The 15th Arpa International Film Festival (AFFMA.org) ran from Thursday, November 29 to Sunday, December 2, 2012, at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, and showcased over 60 films from around the globe.
The festival culminated with a Gala event and awards ceremony at which filmmakers, sponsors, and honored guests were celebrated.
BEST PICTURE was awarded to Nicolas Tackian for his French drama AZAD
BEST DIRECTOR kudos was delivered to Caner Alper and Mehmet Binay for the Turkish film ZENNE DANCER.
BEST SCREENPLAY Award was given to Arshaluys Harutyunyan for the Armenian drama WANDERING
The BEST DOCUMENTARY Feature Award for THE SUFFERING GRASSES: WHEN ELEPHANTS FIGHT, IT IS THE GRASS THAT SUFFERS was presented to Yara Lee.
Eddie Deleon Melikyan accepted the award for BEST SHORT FILM for directing JUST LIKE HER.
Also present at the ceremony were the 2012 special award honorees. Presenters such as filmmaker Haik Gazarian and actress Valentina Rendon presented Hrach Titizian with the Breakthrough Actor of the Year Award; actress Heather McComb presented Michael Poghosian the Artist of the Year Award; actor/filmmaker Sebastian Siegel awarded Frances Fisher the Career Achievement Award; AFFMA Founder Sylvia Minassian presented Lusine Sahakyan, director of “Hamshen at Crossroads of Past and Present” (Armenia,Turkey) with the prestigious Armin T. Wegner Humanitarian Award; Actress Anoush NeVart presented the Arpa Foundation Award to recipient USC Shoah Foundation, The Institute For Visual History And Education. The award was accepted by Dr. Stephen D. Smith, MBE, PhD who spoke about the merits of supporting independent cinema and archiving efforts such as those by the Shoah Foundation. And Achievement in International Cinema Award was accepted by “Lost & Found in Armenia” (Armenia, USA) director, Gor Kirakosian.
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2012 Arpa International Film Festival Showcasing Armenian Films Opens in LA November 29 with Comedian Jamie Kennedy’s LOST & FOUND IN ARMENIA
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LOST & FOUND IN ARMENIA[/caption]The 15th annual Arpa International Film Festival opens on Thursday November 29 and runs through December 2, 2012 at The Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles, California showcasing over 60 feature films, documentaries and short films from 17 countries.
This year’s N. American bows include Tobias Tobbell’s (The Drummond Will) British thriller CONFINE starring Alfie Allen (Game of Thrones) and supermodel Daisy Lowe in her feature debut . Also showing for the first time in N.America is Aram Sukiasyan’s rock opera WANDERING. ‘Wandering’ is the first such film made in Armenia.
West Coast feature premieres include Nicolas Tackian’s French drama AZAD and Ajay Singh’s endearing family film UPSIDE DOWN (Khalti Doka Varti Paay). The latter film from India was an official selection of the 2012 Cannes Film Festival’s World Cinema section.
These films join the North American premiers of the opening night film Gor Kirakosian’s comedy LOST & FOUND IN ARMENIA (USA), Centerpiece Program Sebastian Siegel’s documentary AWAKENING WORLD (USA), the taboo breaking ZENNE DANCER (TURKEY) and Closing Night Film Armenia’s Official Submission to the Foreign Language Category at the 85th Academy Awards® Natalya Belyauskene’s powerful drama IF ONLY EVERYONE (Armenia) . The Festival will also host acclaimed filmmaker Tsvetana Paskaleva’s revival screening of WOUNDS OF KARABAKH (1994) and Hrach Keshishyan’s special sneak peak of his forthcoming 2013 historical epic feature film, NJDEH. Both filmmakers will be in attendance at Arpa International Film Festival.
15th Annual Arpa International Film Festival Program
OPENING NIGHT GALA Thursday, November 29, 7:30 PM
LOST & FOUND IN ARMENIA (2012)
Country: Armenia, USA
Director: Gor Kirakosian
Writer: Narek Ghaplanyan, Gor Kirakosian, Krist Manaryan
Producer: Maral Djerejian, Valerie McCaffrey
Duration 1:40:00
Language: English
US PREMIERE/Opening Night Film
Lost & Found in Armenia is the story of Bill (Jamie Kennedy), an American tourist who travels to Turkey to get his mind off a bad break up. In a comedic and dangerous turn of events, Bill unknowingly ends up in a small village in Armenia, where he is accused of being a Turkish spy. It is in that small village that he meets a beautiful Armenian girl (Angela Sarafyan), who helps him escape from misfortune.
CENTERPIECE PROGRAM – FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 7:30 PM
AWAKENING WORLD (2012)
Country: USA
Director: Sebastian Siegel
Writer: Sebastian Siegel
Producer: Sebastian Siegel
Duration: 0:40:00
Language: English
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE/Centerpiece Program
What fuels an AWAKENING WORLD? That’s what filmmaker Sebastian Siegel sets out to uncover through interviews with renowned authors, and globally recognized artists and leaders. This 1st installment of the 7 year documentary project, LOVE SEX GOD, explores fundamental questions at the core of human fulfillment, such as “what is love?” and “what is the purpose of life?”. Influences on the filmmaker from growing up in Hawaii to immersion in the arts and Indian mythology drive the exploration. Scored discussions are woven into a dialogue culminating in the advocation of a specific methodology as an essential means necessary to perpetuate widespread human joy… . and in the payoff the film drives compassion, and inspires.
ZENNE DANCER (2011)
Country: Turkey
Director: Caner Alper
Writer: Caner Alper, Mehmet Binay
Producer: Caner Alper, Mehmet Binay
Duration: 1:33:00
Language: Turkish with English subtitles
LOS ANGELES PREMIERE/Centerpiece Program
Zenne is the contemporary story of three unlikely friends: Ahmet, a masculine gay man, Can, a male belly dancer (Zenne), and Daniel, a German photo-journalist, who are confronted by a systemic, institutionalized and culturally embedded homophobia that leads to tragedy.
CLOSING NIGHT GALA Saturday, December 1, 2012
IF ONLY EVERYONE (2012)
Country: Armenia
Director: Natalya Belyauskene
Writer: Theresa Varzhapetyan, Michael Poghosian
Producer: Theresa Varzhapetyan
Duration: 1:35:00
Language: Armenian, Russian with English subtitles
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE/Closing Night Film
Armenia’s Official Submission to the Foreign Language Category at the 85th Academy Awards®
This story perhaps touches on the most sensitive string for our nation today, Artsakh. Why did people die, what was the war about, what motivated the heroic deeds? Some have found the answers, others are still searching. But these questions eclipse real lives of real people, whom we often think about the least, unfortunately. Whereas they are living right next to us and maybe are asking the same questions…Our protagonist Gurgen is a common guy, an electronics wiz in a body shop, ostensibly enjoying everybody’s respect and, perhaps, awe. His gloomy appearance may be the reason, or is it his combat merit in the battle for Artsakh? A young Russian girl calls on him, the daughter of his fallen brother in arms…
FEATURE FILMS
AS A BEGINNING (2006)
Country: Armenia
Director: Art Sevada
Writer: Art Sevada
Producer: Art Sevada
Duration: 0:51:45
Language: Armenian with English subtitles
Just behind the slick surface textures of the new Yerevan, beyond its refashioned vistas, mind boutiques, and cooler than thou cafes and restaurants, there is the beating heart of a dreamscape. This is the city’s mythic backdrop, an ongoing essay contest where memory and prospect meet or don’t. Art was at home here. The juxtaposition was inescapable. There was, in the foreground, the stage of the here and now: an Armenian social struggle for stability, an East-meets-West brand of politics and governance, the frazzle-dazzle of an entrepreneurial spirit that was busy expanding the gulf between the haves and have-nots, plus the potential of eye-popping creativity…
AZAD (2009)
Country: France, Armenia
Director: Nicolas Tackian
Writer: Nicolas Tackian
Producer: David Kodsi
Duration: 1:10:00
Language: French with English subtitles
WEST COAST PREMIERE
The word ‘Azad’ means freedom in both Armenian and Kurdish—the core theme in this dramatic feature. An Armenian artist, Mayak is determined to tell his grandfather’s story of survival from the Armenian Genocide through the medium of a graphic novel. Mayak is forced to confront his beliefs and deeply-rooted anger when he meets Mina, a young Kurdish woman who moves into the house he shares with friends. Through their turbulent relationship, both individuals discover profound revelations about their worldviews. A gripping film about one’s identity and self-perseverance.
CONFINE (2012)
Country: United Kingdom
Director: Tobias Tobbell
Writer: Tobias Tobbell
Producer: Emily Corcoran
Duration: 1:30:45
Language: English, Spanish, and French with English subtitles
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
She hid from the world for years. All she wants now is to escape.
CROSSROAD (2012)
Country: USA
Director: Shervin Youssefian
Writer: Shervin Youssefian
Producer: Shervin Youssefian, Danny Simonzad, David Dginguerian, Amy Weber
Duration: 1:35:00
Language: English
Fueled by revenge, Michael sets up a meeting with Clef Robie, the man who murdered his wife and child six years ago. His plans of killing him come to a standstill when unexpected events turn everything he has known upside down. Follow Michael as he slowly discovers that everything in life happens for a reason.
DISAPPEARING BAKERSFIELD (2012)
Country: USA
Director: Sophiah Koikas
Writer: Sophiah Koikas
Producer: Sophiah Koikas
Duration: 2:30:00
Language: English
WORLD PREMIERE
Darris Blue decides to move back home to love and live with her dad but ends up in Disappearing Bakersfield. Disappearing is a vortex and once inside, she’s unable to get out. The call of a ghost and a mystery hostage in the attic of the only hotel in town, The Lonesome Road Hotel, Darris just might be able to help the ghost find her peace which opens Darris’ own heart of her own genocide to her own trapped emotions of her past.
UPSIDE DOWN (2012)
Country: India
Director: Ajay Singh
Writer: Ajay Singh
Producer: Junaid Memon
Duration:1:19:30
Language: Marathi with English subtitles
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
Upside Down is the film which will make you forget Majid Majidi’s award winning “Children Of Heaven.”
WANDERING (2011)
Country: Armenia
Director: Arshaluys Harutyunyan
Writer: Aram Sukiasyan
Producer: Aram Sukiasyan
Duration: 1:21:00
Language: Armenian with English subtitles
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
‘Wandering’ depicts the curious tragedy of a historical injustice victim, a man living in Diaspora. Christianity, immortality of soul, human sins and trespasses, historical injustices, love and purification – these topics are the ideological basis of the film. ‘Wandering’ belongs to the farcical and tragicomic genre and is exceptional in its style. ‘Wandering’ has a structure typical of classical opera: an overture, duets, trios, arias and choral performances with clear development and ideology. ‘Wandering’ is the first such film made in the region’
DOCUMENTARIES
AMERICAN IMAM (2012)
Country: USA
Director: Donya Ravasani
Producer: Donya Ravasani
Duration: 0:19:50
Language: English
Imam Siraj Wahhaj is one of the most prominent and controversial Islamic clerics of the United States. He leads a Muslim community in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. His daughter Hujrah Wahhaj works along side him, reaching out to the Facebook generation in search of its soul. The Imam’s longtime companion Ali Abdul Karim has helped him lead the Islamic community where they settled in the 1980s when the neighborhood was Brooklyn’s roughest ghetto. This is a look behind the scenes of the African-American Muslim community in the United States today.
ARAGIL, THE WHITE STORK (2010)
Country: Armenia
Director: Shirak Khojayan
Writer: Shirak Khojayan
Producer: Shirak Khojayan
Duration: 0:28:26
Language: English
Aragil, The White Stork is a documentary about the life of the white stork and its relationship with the people of Armenia.
ARMENIAN ACTIVISTS NOW! BIRTH OF A MOVEMENT (2012)
Country: USA, Armenia
Director: Robert Davidian
Producer: Robert Davidian
Duration: 0:41:00
Language: English
This documentary shows the birth of activism and the social issues it aims to change in Armenia, as told by the activists themselves.
ARMENIAN ECHOES (2012)
Country: Canada, Armenia
Director: Hagop Goudsouzian
Producer: Hagop Goudsouzian
Duration: 1:48:18
Language: Armenian with English subtitles
Armenian Echoes, timeless rhythms. So much of a peoples’ identity stems from the songs they sing, the music they play and the spirit of their dance. Music is the very essence of the cultural identity of a people. In this film Hagop Goudsouzian continues his 7-month journey through Armenia in pursuit of his dream, the soul of Armenian Music.
ARMENIAN MINSTRELS (2011)
Country: Canada, Armenia
Director: Hagop Goudsouzian
Producer: Hagop Goudsouzian
Duration: 0:55:23
Language: Armenian with English Subtitles
Today’s Armenian Minstrels perform traditional yet contemporary Armenian love songs. With a 700 year history Armenian Minstrels still echo the soul of Armenian Culture. Featuring Professor Tovmas Poghosyan, the Sayat-Nova Minstrel Song Ensemble and impromptu interviews and performances with well known Armenian Minstrels: Minstrel Andranik Ujanci, Minstrel Astghanush, Minstrel Kochar, and Minstrel Makhmour.
ARMENIAN RHAPSODY (2012)
Country: Brazil
Director: Cassiana Der Haroutiounian, Cesar Gananian, Gary Gananian
Writer: Cassiana Der Haroutiounian, Cesar Gananian, Gary Gananian
Producer: Cassiana Der Haroutiounian, Cesar Gananian, Gary Gananian
Duration: 1:02:28
Language: English, Armenian, and Spanish with English subtitles
Armenian Rhapsody is a road movie, made of a polyphony of characters where the faces and the music are the real protagonists. As in a rhapsody, the film is made of a juxtaposition of musical and narrative fragments with variations in theme, intensity and tone.
BORN IN GOMA (2012)
Country: USA, Congo
Director: Chris Carpenter
Producer: Chris Carpenter
Duration: 0:47:45
Language: English and Swahili with English subtitles
Dr. Chris Carpenter travels to Goma, a war-ravaged city in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to work at the HEAL Africa hospital. Each day, he cares for the sickest and most desperate children in the region. During his journey, he meets three special patients, each trying to survive in the midst of extreme poverty and violence. Born in Goma follows Isaac, Gisele and Dieume as they work against remarkable odds to regain their health and build brighter futures.
DONKEYMENTARY (2012)
Country: Kenya, Armenia
Director: Arman Yeritsyan, Vardan Hovhannisyan
Producer: Vardan Hovhannisyan
Duration: 0:52:00
Language: English and Swahili with English subtitles
This is a Donkeymentary – a documentary about a small island, just off the coast of Kenya, with 24,000 people, 6,000 donkeys, just 2 cars and a 14-year-old donkey race champion, Shee Famao, whose fondest dream in life is nothing more than having a donkey of his own.
FATHER’S LAND (2012)
Country: Armenia
Director: Anzhela Frangyan & Marianna Abrahamyan
Writer: Anzhela Frangyan & David Sargsyan
Producer: Tiran Hayrapetyan
Duration: 0:18:00
Language: Armenian with English subtitles
Father’s Land tells the story of the grand 9th century Monastery of Tatev.
GENOCIDE MEMOIR (2012)
Country: Australia
Director: Shahane Bekarian
Producer: Shahane Bekarian
Duration: 0:13:58
Language: Armenian with English subtitles
Boghos Tavrayan was about 4 years old, he didn’t know who his parents were, he didn’t know the year of his birth, he didn’t know why they were abhorred, the only thing he knew was his first name. This Genocide Memoir is a short documentary about a survivor of the Armenian Genocide during WWI. Using an interview filmed in 1986 this film is a contemporary view which attempts to convey the ongoing suffering and struggle for justice within Armenians today.
HAMSHEN AT CROSSROADS OF PAST AND PRESENT (2012)
Country: Armenia, Turkey
Director: Lusine Sahakyan
Producer: Lusine Sahakyan
Duration: 1:00:00
Language: Armenian, Hamshen, and Turkish with English subtitles
Lusineh Sahakyan’s documentary Hamshen at Crossroads of Past and Present is dedicated to the current state of the descendants of the Armenians of Hamshen (Hamshentsis); a people who were forcibly Islamicized (”Turkified”) by the Ottoman Empire in the 18th century. Today, they live primarily in the provinces of Rizeh and Artvin, as well as in Istanbul and other cities of Turkey. The film presents unique episodes from the history and culture of the once powerful Armenian Principality of Hamshen, and the practice of Islamization, a form of ethnic cleansing. Based on material shot on location, the present-day culture of the Hamshentsis is chronicled: their songs and dances, customs, linguistic situation, as well as their everyday life and occupations, conceptions of their own identity, and the demographic picture.
HUMBLE THE POET (2011)
Country: USA, Canada
Director: Brendan Nahmias
Producer: Brendan Nahmias
Duration: 0:12:28
Language: English
With tattoos and a turban, Humble the Poet is a Sikh hip-hop artist from Toronto, Canada whose message is expressed with a twist. He harnesses the power of the spoken word with music, re-defining the immigrant experience in a bold fashion. Take a ride inside the mind of Humble as he navigates the line between two cultures, aiming to define himself as a hip-hop artist, while reconciling his identity as a modern Sikh.
MEMORIES WITHOUT BORDERS (2012)
Country: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey
Director: Mehmet Binay, Levon Kalantar, Ayaz Salayev
Producer: M. Caner Alper, Harutyun Mansuryan, Nailia Babayeva
Duration: 0:54:22
Language: Armenian, Azerbaijani, and Turkish with English subtitles
In 2010, a UK-based peacebuilding organization, Conciliation Resources, brought a team of Armenian, Azerbaijani and Turkish directors together to make a film exploring parallels and differences in how Turks, Armenians and Azerbaijanis remember the past and see their future. The result is a subtly provocative meditation on collective memory, personal discovery and borders in the mind, across a region as divided by historical narratives as it is by closed borders and frontlines.
MY MOTHER’S VOICE (2012)
Country: USA
Director: Mark Friedman
Writer: Kay Mouradian
Producer: Mark Friedman, Kay Mouradian
Duration: 0:25:04
Language: English
My Mother’s Voice is the compelling story of fourteen-year-old Flora Munushian, her survival from the 1915 Armenian Genocide and how she finds her way to America to marry a man she knows only from a paragraph. Her voice is the voice of all the victims of the 1915 genocide, a story that must not be forgotten.
RETURN TO ASBURY (2012)
Country: USA
Director: David Norian
Writer: David Norian
Producer: Dot Gain Films
Duration: 0:10:00
Language: English
Return to Asbury tells the story of how Armenian-Americans once gathered every summer in the New Jersey beach town of Asbury Park, and what happens when they return to that same place 40 years later.
SO FAR FROM HOME (2009)
Country: Canada
Director: Lorne Shirinian
Writer: Lorne Shirinian
Producer: Lorne Shirinian
Duration: 0:5:43
Language: English
A narrative documentary of the journey from Turkey to Canada of a 5-year old orphan survivor of the Armenian Genocide.
THE SUFFERING GRASSES: WHEN ELEPHANTS FIGHT, IT IS THE GRASS THAT
SUFFERS (2012)
Country: USA, Syria, Arab Republic, Turkey
Director: Iara Lee
Producer: Iara Lee
Duration: 0:51:45
Language: English and Arabic with English subtitles
With thousands dead and counting, the ongoing conflict in Syria has become a microcosm for the complicated politics of the region, and an unsavory reflection of the world at large. Against the backdrop of the Arab Spring and the complicated politics of the region, this film explores the Syrian conflict through the humanity of the civilians who have been killed, abused, and displaced. In all such conflicts, it is civilians, women and children, families and whole communities, who suffer at the leisure of those in power. When elephants go to war, it is the grass that suffers.
TONI AND ROSI (2012)
Country: USA, UK, Austria
Director: Todd Murray, Will Wyatt
Producer: Todd Murray, Will Wyatt
Duration: 0:58:00
Language: English
Toni and Rosi Grunschlag were Viennese piano prodigies destined for triumph on the concert stages of Europe until the Nazi occupation of Austria shattered their world and irrevocably changed their destiny. Left to fend for themselves in a hostile Austria, they were forced to flee their native land and begin new lives far away from all that they loved. ‘Toni and Rosi’ turned to what they could trust: their music and each other.
TUMOR, IT’S IN THE SYSTEM (2012)
Country: USA, Australia, Canada
Director: Cindy Pruitt, Valerie McCaffrey
Producer: Valerie McCaffrey, Cindy Pruitt
Duration: 1:07:00
Language: English
This documentary reveals how alternative cures for cancer have been suppressed since the 1930’s and how the bureaucratic regulatory system has maintained chemotherapy and radiation as the only choice of treatment for over 100 years. Citing testimonials to the horrors of chemo and radiation adjacent to those who have secretly cured their cancer with alternative means, this film is a call to action for the freedom to publicize alternative cures, and a call to people to demand the freedom to make better choices.
VIOLINS IN WARTIME (2011)
Country: Israel
Director: Yael Katzir
Writer: Yael Katzir
Producer: Yael Katzir, Dan Katzir
Duration: 0:46:04
Language: English and Hebrew with English subtitles
Israel 2006. An intimate chronicle of the violinmaker Amnon Weinstein whose son is at the front during the Second Lebanon War. Amnon takes part in master classes for young violinists taught by famed musicians Ida Haendel and Shlomo Mintz. A moving story about the power of music and the violins in wartime.
VOYAGE TO AMASIA (2011)
Country: USA, Armenia, Turkey
Director: Randy Bell
Producer: Randy Bell, Eric Hachikian
Duration: 1:24:15
Language: English, Armenian, and Turkish with English subtitles
Voyage To Amasia’ is a feature documentary inspired by Eric Hachikian’s piano trio of the same name. Amasya, Turkey is the city from which Eric’s grandmother fled during the Armenian Genocide. The filmmakers made a real voyage to Amasia, tracing a path through the past, telling Eric’s family’s story and the story of the current people of Turkey and Armenia.
WOMEN AT WAR: FORGOTTEN VETERANS OF DESERT STORM (2012)
Country: USA
Director: Christie Davis
Writer: Christie Davis
Producer: Christie Davis, Dennis Davis
Duration: 1:16:16
Language: English
The feature documentary ‘Women At War: Forgotten Veterans of Desert Storm’ takes an intimate look at women soldiers’ wartime experiences on the toxic battlefields of 1991’s Operation Desert Storm and their heartbreaking battles with Gulf War Illnesses since they’re returned home. Carol Williams and three other female veterans fight the government for proper treatment and benefits in their search for answers to their mysterious Gulf War illnesses. They wonder why they’ve been abandoned by the government they risked their lives to serve. Twenty years later, their war isn’t over.
SHORT FILMS
140 DRAMS (2012)
Country: Armenia
Director: Oksana Mirzoyan
Writer: Oksana Mirzoyan
Producer: Emily Mkrtichian, Anahid Yahjian
Duration: 0:18:00
Language: Armenian with English subtitles
140 Drams tells the story of a young boy who must go to the store by himself for the first time. Things get complicated when the 140 Drams his mother gave him for milk are not enough, and he has to make a difficult choice. The experience of this young boy becomes a kaleidoscope through which the landscape of a modern Armenia emerges. Through bits and pieces, fragments of conversation and glimpses of the insides of a single bedroom apartment, this film tries to put together a picture of this country, right now.
4 MINUTES (2011)
Country: USA
Director: Stephen Sepher
Writer: Stephen Sepher
Producer: Stephen Sepher
Duration: 0:15:30
Language: English
Four ex special ops are en route to transport a well-known heart surgeon when they find themselves targeted by an unknown enemy in the mountainous terrains of Kandahar, Afghanistan.
AFTER WATER THERE IS SAND (2012)
Country: USA, Armenia
Director: Saro Varjabedian
Writer: Saro Varjabedian
Producer: Mira El Koussa
Duration: 0:17:45
Language: English and Armenian with English subtitles
Tamar, an 80-year-old widow, visits her Armenian homeland to fulfill her recently-deceased husband’s last wish: to take a family photo in front of Mount Ararat. However, her daughters, Armine and Lori, are less than interested in going to mount Ararat, and hope that the trip will allow Tamar to let go of her grief and find joy in her life. The three women are accompanied by Hripsime, a loud-mouthed, sprightly taxi driver as their guide. With the Armenian countryside as their backdrop, the women struggle to find new meaning in their lives and broaden their relationships. Once they arrive at Ararat, they are surprised to learn that the picture Tamar wants to take won’t come as easily to them as they had hoped…
299: BARBARIANS INSIDE THE GATES (2012)
Country: USA
Director: Frederikos
Writer: Nick Mann
Producer: Nick Mann
Duration: 0:15:00
Language: English
In a world, where ancient mythology collides with present day discord, a rogue warrior who would be king, finds himself in the throes of an existential crisis. But it is not until he summons the spirit of 299 Spartans to help charge a hapless band of Greeks into a battle of economic proportions to reclaim the country’s sovereignty, does our anti-hero realize he is but a mere pawn in a larger, divine plan. Cast includes Arkidies Vasileas, Phillip Berg, Vasilia Niles, and introducing Pheenix. Art by Jamese
THE EPIPHANY (2012)
Country: USA
Director: Ella Hatamian
Writer: Ella Hatamian
Duration: 0:17:42
Language: English and Armenian with English subtitles
It’s January 5th, Armenian Christmas Eve, and the Hatamian family only has 15-minutes to complete their preparations for the annual holiday feast. Chaos ensues.
HIGH CARD TRUMPS (2012)
Country: USA
Director: Geoffrey Quan
Writer: Stacey Parshall Jensen
Producer: Frances Chang
Duration: 0:05:56
Language: English
Lois, a headstrong woman and soon-to-be champion grandmother, is anxious to share her good news with the volunteers of her monthly Support-Our-Troops bake sale. But when an Arab mother joins them, Lois’s pride and her definition of patriotism are challenged.
HOLLYWOOD & HAMMER (2012)
Country: USA
Director: Ryan Green
Writer: Ryan Green, Nathaniel Eyde (story)
Producer: Nathaniel Eyde
Duration: 0:11:55
Language: English
A man dressed as THOR wanders Hollywood Blvd, looking for tips. He becomes the subject of scorn and ridicule when he claims to be the actual Norse God of Thunder. The problem is, it might just be true.
HYEPOWER (2011)
Country: USA
Director: James Jay Ellis
Duration: 0:08:15
Language: English and German with English subtitles
Based on the original music video HiiiPower by Kendrick Lamar, Nazo Bravo leads the audience through personal perspectives of his own cultural heritage – and that of millions of first and second generation Armenians now living in America – with his vibrantly personal debut music video HyePower.’Hye’ is Armenian for its own rich identity. And the word ‘Power’ is a hopeful reference to the dreams of many of Nazo’s own friends and others throughout the world for a better life ahead. Rooted in the tragedy of what is commonly called The Armenian Genocide and the recent murder of Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in Istanbul, Turkey, the video also traces resonant social luminaries such as John Lennon and Muhammad Ali.
JOLLY B. FIERCE (2012)
Country: USA
Director: Allison Arachea
Writer: Allison Arachea
Producer: Angelica Robinson
Duration: 0:22:00
Language: English and Tagalog with English subtitles
Filipino drag queen, Jolly B. Fierce, leaves the glitter, lights and wigs to travel to America; where he will be faced with the decision to reconcile with his estranged family, for the sake of his dying mother.
JUST LIKE HER (2011)
Country: USA
Director: Eddie Melikyan
Writer: Eddie Melikyan
Producer: Avi Quijada
Duration: 0:18:18
Language: English
Just Like Her embarks us on the emotional journey of Ashley Marston as she prepares a Thanksgiving dinner for her family. Unable to suppress the urge to speak about the taboo, it quickly becomes violent when she blames her father for her mother’s suicide.
LATER THAN USUAL (2012)
Country: Canada
Director: David Hovan
Writer: David Hovan
Producer: David Hovan
Duration 0:06:15
A day in the life of an elderly couple. The non verbal interactions between the two make for sometimes funny and at other times poignant moments throughout the film. This couple has lived so long together that they have nothing left to say to each other. Living in an isolated state in their old house, they go about their daily routines, until…
MACHINEHEAD (2012)
Country: USA
Director: Micah Gallagher
Writer: Micah Gallagher
Producer: Micah Gallagher
Duration: 0:12:00
Machinehead is a stop-motion short film that follows a puppet as he travels through four unique rooms representing different stages of intellectual and spiritual development. It’s an abstract representation of someone trying to find meaning and purpose. The short features puppet animation and pays homage to revolutionary stop-motion artists such as Jan Svankmajer and the Quay Brothers in style and content.
MAKE IT A GREAT DAY (2012)
Country: USA
Director: Joshua Jones
Writer: Daniel Klein
Producer: Joshua Jones, Daniel Klein
Duration: 0:06:40
Language: English
Mother Nature’s peculiar sense of irony creates a convoluted path of survival for a newborn chick with unfortunate timing.
METZARENTS (2012)
Country: USA
Director: Hayk Hambartsum
Writer: Hayk Hambartsum
Producer: Shahe Barsoumian
Duration: 0:35:00
Language: English and Armenian with English subtitles
Metzarents is the story of Vahag, a struggling actor in Los Angeles who reconnects with his long dormant Armenian roots when he is offered to play the role of the poet Misak Metzarents in a play.
MIDNIGHT FISTFIGHT (2012)
Country: USA
Director: Robert Nazar Arjoyan
Writer: Robert Nazar Arjoyan, David Lafian
Producer: Robert Nazar Arjoyan
Duration: 0:23:34
Language: English and Armenian with English subtitles
Rage-filled Gev, a first generation American, must learn to get along with his sister’s straightlaced boyfriend Alec, whom he accompanies to a ‘zhamo,’ a ritualistic and centuries-old Armenian tradition, where men meet to settle grievances of honor but rarely leave unscathed.
MOSSADEGH (2011)
Country: USA
Director: Roozbeh Dadvand
Writer: Roozbeh Dadvand, Nathaniel C. Leonard
Producer: Amber Beard, Marina Davis, Grace K. Lee
Duration: 0:23:33
Language: English and Farsi with English subtitles
Iran. 1959. It is six years after the CIA orchestrated coup that overthrew democratic Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh from power. Now living under house arrest and suffering from a life-threatening condition, Mossadegh must decide whether or not to trust a brilliant American physician that is sent to treat him.
MOVING STORIES (2012)
Country: France, USA
Director: Nora Armani
Writer: Nora Armani
Producer: Nora Armani
Duration: 0:18:16
Language: English
The story of two women linked by an apartment from which one is moving out the other in. For the first one this is a definitive move and the closing of a chapter, while for the second it is just a stage, and the start of a new life.
PARALLAX (2012)
Country: USA
Director: Paul DeNigris
Writer: Paul DeNigris
Producer: Paul DeNigris, Steve Briscoe, Laura DeNigris
Duration: 0:22:00
Language: English and Arabic with English subtitles
Daniels, a U.S. Army infantryman with a hatred for all Arabs, is injured in a convoy ambush and rescued by Iraqi civilian Hassan and his son Jabir. As the three of them hide from the insurgents, Daniels learns that his prejudices and his hatred have been misplaced and comes to respect Hassan and Jabir as human beings. Making a sacrifice himself in order to save his new friends from the insurgents, Daniels emerges from the experience with a renewed perspective.
PAYING FOR IT (2011)
Country: USA
Director: Lauren Lillie
Writer: Lauren Lillie
Producer: Narineh Hacopian
Duration: 0:21:43
Language: English
While on a weekend getaway with her boyfriend, 18-year-old Deidre discovers a call girl passed out in their hotel hallway. She decides to help her. During their ensuing hours together, Deidre opens up to this woman in a way that she isn’t capable of confiding in anyone else. What is it that these two women learn they have in common?
PRIVATE SUN (2011)
Country: Palestinian Territories
Director: Rami Alayan
Writer: Rami Alayan
Producer: Rami Alayan, Muayad Alayan
Duration: 0:25:00
Language: Arabic with English subtitles
Mariam is instructed by her doctor to sunbathe in order to reverse the vitamin D deficiency that is causing her a bone illness. But with nosy neighbors, an overbearing sister-in-law and Israeli surveillance planes, private moments under the sun are precious and rare.
QUITTER (2012)
Country: USA
Director: Garen Mirzaian
Writer: Garen Mirzaian
Producer: Tomohisa Imagawa
Duration: 0:16:26
Language: English
A young man is inspired to make a healthy change in his life only to realize the source of his inspiration is slowly turning into his nemesis.
SECRET OF LIGHT (2012)
Country: USA
Director: Vahram Hakobyan
Writer: Vahram Hakobyan
Producer: Vahram Hakobyan, Autumn Fawn
Duration: 0:13:13
Language: English
Princess of Light returns to her father’s kingdom to face Dark Devil and restore light in Valley of Hope.
THREE COLORS IN BLACK AND WHITE (2008)
Country: Armenia
Director: Art Sevada
Writer: Harutyun Kbeyan
Producer: Armen Hambardzumyan
Duration: 0:14:03
Language: Russian and Armenian with English subtitles
A mentally ill young man sees everything that is happening in Yerevan with a bit of an exaggerated eye.
TOUJOURS (2011)
Country: USA
Director: Sona Tatoyan
Writer: Sona Tatoyan
Producer: Ted Feldman, Andrei Bowden-Schwartz, Sona Tatoyan
Duration: 0:8:28
Language: English and French with English subtitles
A woman reignites an old unconsummated love affair with fatal consequences.
VAI, KIKOS, VAI… (2009)
Country: Armenia
Director: Aviva Barkhoudarian
Writer: Aviva Barkhoudarian
Producer: Aviva Barkhoudarian
Duration: 0:07:00
Language: Armenian with English subtitles
The story of Kikos’ death, inspired by the classic Hovhannes Tumanyan story.
VENA AMORIS (2012)
Country: USA
Director: Armando Hermosilla
Writer: Armando Hermosilla
Producer: Sergio Arroyo, Akbar Farooq
Duration: 0:15:38
Language: English
Vena Amoris is about celebrating life with hope in our hearts and an eye toward the future. This film depicts how easy it is to live a happy life when we’re surrounded by friends and family who love us and how easy it is to stray when left alone. James (Christopher Newell) is a successful and attractive businessman who will be married tomorrow, but before he is married he has to goose step his way past a beautiful temptress and endure painful torture at the hands of his fiancé’s father (Allan Charof). Will James’ love be strong enough to get him through the gauntlet to his wedding day, or will he be swayed by the promise of pleasure and impending pain that threaten to crush his dream of being a good and faithful husband?
VENUS VS. MARS (2011)
Country: USA
Director: Talin Malekian
Writer: Talin Malekian
Producer: Talin Malekian, Nansia Movidi, Jeffrey DeChausse
Duration: 0:15:22
Language: English
In a world bound by deception, how will a young impressionable artist overcome society’s lure of grandeur in order to unite with her inner voice and become highly valued?
VUCCIRIA (2011)
Country: Italy
Director: Michele Di Salle
Writer: Michele Di Salle
Producer: Massimo Sigillo Massara
Duration: 0:07:20
Language: Italian with English subtitles
Under a cloudy sky a young lady walks around the streets of the town. Outside a shop she sees herself in a mirror. Her reflection is much colorful. Curiosity draws Elisa closer to the mirror and with one touch she is in a new world. The lady is now in a new world, a market full of strange characters…
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14th Arpa International Film Festival Award Winners
[caption id="attachment_1652" align="alignnone" width="550"]
Best Picture -Three Veils [/caption]The 14th Arpa International Film Festival wrapped on Saturday with a screening of FIVE MINARETS IN NEW YORK followed by a the awards ceremony. Taking top honors were THREE VEILS, MY UNCLE RAFAEL, THE LAST TIGHTROPE DANCER IN ARMENIA and BOLIS.
The Best Picture honor this year went to Rolla Selbak’s drama, THREE VEILS. BEST DIRECTOR and BEST SCREENPLAY kudos went to director Marc Fusco and writers Scott Yagemann and Vahik Pirhamzei for their comedy MY UNCLE RAFAEL.
Pirhamzei also received the festival’s 2011 Breakthrough Performance Award for his starring role in the film. Arman Yeritsyan and Inna Sahakyan’s THE LAST TIGHTROPE DANCER IN ARMENIA was given the award for Best Documentary with Eric Nazarian’s BOLIS winning BEST SHORT FILM.
List Of Winners:
Best Picture:
Three Veils (L.A. premiere)
USA
Director: Rolla Selbak
Producer: Ahmad Zahra
Writer: Rolla SelbekThree Veils is a film about three young Middle-Eastern women living in the U.S., each with her own personal story. Leila is engaged to be married, however as the wedding night approaches, she becomes less and less sure of how her life is playing out. Amira is a very devout Muslim, but is dealing with her deep repressions about her intimate
feelings toward women. Nikki is acting out her promiscuity as she battles her own demons after a tragic death in the family. As the film progresses, all three stories unfold and blend into each other as connections are revealed between the three women.Best Screenplay/Best Director:
My Uncle Rafael (North American premiere)
USA
Director: Marc Fusco
Producers: Michael Garrity, Vahik Pirhamzei
Writers: Scott Yagemann, Vahik Pirhamzei
A desperate TV producer convinces an old Armenian Uncle to star in a new reality show. Cultures collide when Uncle Rafael is thrown into the Schumacher family household where he has one week to save a broken and dysfunctional American family from falling apart. The only rule – everyone must follow his rules. Starring Vahik Pirhamzei, John
Michael Higgins, Missi Pyle, Anthony Clark, Rachel Blanchard, Joe Lo Truglio, Anahid Avanesian, Carly Chaikin, Sage Ryan, Ursula Taherian,
and Lupe Ontiveros.Best Documentary:
The Last Tightrope Dancer In Armenia
Armenia
Directors: Arman Yeritsyan, Inna Sahakyan
Producer: Vardan Hovhannisyan
Writers: Arman Yeritsyan, Inna SahakyanZhora and Knyaz were once the most celebrated masters of tightrope dancing in Armenia. Today, they are the only surviving performers who can keep this ancient art alive against the current of contemporary society, but all their students grow up and find other interests in life. Why is their art not important anymore?
Best Short Film
Bolis (World Premiere)
USA, Turkey
Director: Eric Nazarian
Writer: Eric Nazarian
Producers: Huseyin Karabey, Sevil Demirci.Armenak is a successful oud player who is in Istanbul for the first time for an important musical event. His feelings toward the city, which his Armenian grandfather fled at the tip of the sword in 1915, are very complex. Armenak arrives full of prejudice, expecting to hate the place, but instead finds it very familiar. The decision comes naturally to him to search for his grandfather’s old musical instrument shop with only an old photo and a street name. Is it destiny or coincidence that leads him to his destination?
Special Awards
2011 Breakthrough Performance Award
Vahik Pirhamzei for My Uncle Rafael (USA)AT&T Award for Environmental Conservation and Stewardship Marion Stoddart:
The Work of 1000 (WEST COAST PREMIERE)
Director: Susan Edwards – 2011 AT&T Award for Environmental Conservation and Stewardship Recipient
Producer: Dorie Clark
Writer: Susan EdwardsMarion Stoddart lived next to one of America’s most polluted rivers and transformed herself from a 1960s housewife to a citizen leader and environmental hero honored by the United Nations. The Work of 1000 is the documentary film chronicling her life, achievements, setbacks, and unwavering belief that one person can make a difference in the world.
Armin T. Wegner Humanitarian Award
Children of War (USA, Uganda)
Director: Bryan Single – 2011 Armin T. Wegner Award Recipient
Producers: Bryan Single, Farzad Karimi, Timothy Beckett
Associate Producers: Anahid Aramouni Keshishian, Shannon McBrien, Grant Inglett