ALEX FARBA

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By Alex Deleon-Farba for  filmfestivals.com

The Yerevan Film Festival, officially known as the Golden Apricot Film Festival (GAIFF) is now a bustling teenager and will open its sixteenth edition on Sunday, July 7, at the venerable Kino Moskva (Moscow Cinema) on Charles Aznavour Square in the heart of the Armenian capitol.  

  The international full-length feature lineup  consisting of twelve entries as follows:

  1. Ray and Liz: UK, 2018. 

  This autobiographical debut feature by photographer Richard Billingham focuses on his working class parents and was presented to critical acclaim at last years Locarno festival.

   2. Adjyet. Turkey. 2019. Dir. Burak Cevik. (b. 1993). 

     This second feature was shown at Berlin Forum in February.

   A man reconstructs the murder of his future mother-in-law. Acting on the wishes of her daughter, his lover, he hired a contract killer to murder her because she opposed their relationship. 

  3. Oleg. Latvia, 2019. The second feature of Juris Kursietis.

A young Latvian butcher travels to Brussels in search of better wages but a series of misfortunes lead him to fall under the sway of a Polish criminal.

   4. Xquipi' Guie'dani, Mexico, 2019. Director, Xavi Sala (1971) in Spanish and the indigenous Zapotec language.  Guie'dani, a Zapotec indigenous girl and her mother take up work with an upper middle class family in Mexico City. The girl does not fit and is in constant conflict. Everything changes when she meets Claudia, a rebellious girl with whom she becomes close friends.

  5. Répertoire Des Villes Disparues, (Ghost Town Anthology), French Canadian, 2019  Director Denis Côté (1973). This film was in competition at Berlin in February.  A subtle moody ghost story in which the dead start returning to haunt a rural village shocked out of its stagnant inertia and imperviousness to change.

6. Talking About Trees. Documentary, Sudan. Director 

Suhaib Gasmelbari. Language, Arabic.  Shown earlier at Berlin, Panorama.

7. Dylda (Beanpole). Russia. 2019.  Director Kantemir Bakagov.

WW II drama set during the siege of Leningrad when the city was nearly destroyed but held out against the Germans. Two young women search for meaning and hope in the struggle to rebuild their lives among the ruins.

8. Midnight Traveller, Qatar, USA, Canada. 2019. Director, Hassan Fazili.

Autobiographic wartime documentary filmed on cellphones. When the Taliban puts a bounty on Afghan director Hassan Fazili's head, he is forced to flee with his wife and two young daughters. Capturing their uncertain journey, Fazili shows firsthand the dangers facing refugees seeking asylum and the love shared between a family on the run.

9. God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunija, Macedonia (2019)

Gospod postoi, imeto i' e Petrunija (original title) 

Director: Teona Strugar Mutevska.

 Every January in a small  town in Macedonia, the high priest throws a cross into the local waters, while hundreds of men charge for it. The one who finds the cross is believed to gain overall good fortune and prosperity. An unemployed single young woman Petrunija jumps into the water and catches the cross. In this conservative setting, her competitors feel they have every right to be furious: about  a woman whi dared to compete and achieve what they failed to achieve. Petrunia insists that she is the winner and refuses to return the cross.  Shown at Berlin 2019, in  competition.

10. Winter After Winter, China. 2019. director Xing Jian.

 An Asian WWII story about the forgotten war of the Chinese against the Superior forces of the Japanese in Manchuria in 1931..  In his new film, “Winter After  Winter”, Chinese director Xing Jian focuses on that period of time in  Manchuria. However, at the center of the film, we have the story of one Family.

11. The Stateless Diplomat, USA. (2018)  Directors, Mimi Malayan and Artur Muradyan.  A new take on the Armenian Genocide focusing on the 

life of female diplomat Duana Apcar.  Documentary, 1h, 19 min.

12. Aglumi. No information at this time.

From this highly eclectic feature lineup, typical of the Yerevan programming it is clear that a most interesting week of cinema lies ahead.

Georgian Director Alexander Mindadze will be the chairman of the Feature competition, and the special guest of the festival is Mexican celebrity filmmaker, winner of international competitions Carlos Reygadas.

In addition to the feature films in competition for cash prizes the non-competition program will feature a regional panorama contest. The rest of the programs such as Yerevan Premieres, Retrospectives, and Tribute are non-competitive.

The “Golden Apricot” IFF has a new logo, which reflects the unique approach of the new festival team to the 16th anniversary. The logo is minimalistic, it represents the Armenian letter “Ծ” (“Ts”)  which is the first letter of the Atmenian word for Apricot   (Tsiran = Ծիրան)

Through that letter the designer tried to present the apricot, which is the symbol of the festival and a delicious fruit native to the country. The Armenian flag consists of of three parallel stripes, the bottom one of which is a rich The festival will have feature films (including fiction and documentary films), as well as short regional film contests; the non-competition program will feature a regional panorama contest. The rest of the programs such as Yerevan Premieres, Retrospectives, and Tribute are non-competitive.

The “Golden Apricot” IFF has a new logo, which reflects the unique approach of the new festival team to the 16th anniversary. The logo is minimalistic, it represents the Armenian letter “Ծ” (“Ts”) and through that letter the designer tried to present the apricot, which is the symbol of the festival.Apricot yellow. 

The latin name, Prunus armeniaca, indicates the Armenian origin  of this popular local fruit. However, the origin of the apricot is disputed and unsettled. It was known in Armenia during ancient times, and has been cultivated there for so long that it is often thought to have originated there. Its scientific name Prunus armeniaca (Armenian plum) derives from that assumption.   At the end of the festival the various  prize winners are traditionally given a basket of fresh apricots to take home. How can you not love a film festival that is dedicated to Apricots!.