Golden Apricot International Film Festival

Overview

The Golden Apricot International Film Festival is Armenia's most important film festival. Founded in 2004 and held annually in July in Yerevan, the festival presents competitive international and Armenian cinema in the world's oldest Christian nation and a country defined by the memory of genocide and the experience of diaspora.

Armenia's cultural identity is inseparable from the Armenian Genocide of 1915, in which an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman forces. The world's large Armenian diaspora communities -- in Los Angeles, Paris, Beirut, and elsewhere -- maintain deep connections to the homeland, and the festival serves as a platform connecting diaspora filmmakers with their cultural roots.

Yerevan's setting at the foot of Mount Ararat -- the snow-capped volcanic mountain visible from the city but now within Turkish territory -- gives the capital a poetic visual relationship with lost homeland that infuses Armenian cultural life.

Key Sections

• International Competition -- films competing for the Golden Apricot Award
• Armenian Film Program -- new Armenian features and shorts
• Diaspora Cinema -- films by Armenian diaspora filmmakers worldwide
• Documentary Program -- nonfiction features
• Short Film Competition -- competitive short programs

What Filmmakers Should Know

Golden Apricot accepts open submissions. For Armenian and diaspora Armenian filmmakers, the festival provides the most important domestic and diaspora platform. Films addressing genocide memory, diaspora identity, and Armenian cultural heritage find particularly engaged audiences.

Major Awards

• Golden Apricot -- Best Film
• Best Armenian Film
• Best Diaspora Film
• Audience Award

Festival History

Golden Apricot was founded in 2004 and has operated as Armenia's primary international film platform.

See Also

For South Caucasus cinema, see International Film Markets. For Tbilisi Film Festival, see Tbilisi International Film Festival.