19/07/2022 - The leading Armenian film gathering ran in Yerevan from 10-17 July

The 19^th Golden Apricot International Film Festival, the major Armenian film gathering, ran in a physical format from 10-17 July in Yerevan, the country’s capital. The festival wrapped with the awards ceremony at the Aram Khachatryan concert hall. 

Irish screenwriter and director Terry George was the president of the International Feature Film competition jury. After weighing up the eleven contenders in the International Competition, the jury singled out the Chinese drama Return to Dust, written and directed by Li Ruijun, handing it the Golden Apricot trophy. The film, which premiered in Competition at the Berlinale, is set in rural China and follows Ma, a reticent farmer and the last of his family to remain unmarried, and Guiying, who is disabled, infertile and long past what is considered to be of marrying age, who have an arranged marriage.

The Silver Apricot was awarded to the animated feature Aurora's Sunrise [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Inna Sahakyan
film profile], directed, co-penned and co-produced by local Inna Sahakyan and focused on Aurora, a teenage girl who survives the Armenian genocide, escapes to America, and is thrust into Hollywood stardom, where she becomes the face of a massive humanitarian campaign. As for the Special Mention of the jury, this was handed to Unrest [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cyril Schäublin
film profile], written and directed by Cyril Schaublin.

In the Regional Competition, where ten films hailing from countries neighbouring Armenia as well as West Asia participated, the Golden Apricot was bestowed upon Sonne [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kurdwin Ayub
film profile]. Written and directed by Kurdwin Ayub, the film follows three teenage girls from Vienna who twerk in hijab and sing a pop song. A YouTube video of their performance makes them famous overnight, especially among Kurdish Muslims. Yesmin, the only one of the friends who is Kurdish herself, begins to distance herself more and more from her culture while the other two girls seem fascinated by a world that is strange to them.

The Silver Apricot went to the Iranian neorealist film The Apple Day directed by Mahmoud Ghaffari, which also received the FIPRESCI Award named after Dutch film critic Peter van Bueren, who passed away in 2020. Meanwhile, the Special Mention of the Regional Competition was handed to Rojek by Canadian director of Kurdish descent, Zaynê Akyol.

Finally, in the Apricot Stone section, which is dedicated to short films hailing from the region, the Golden Apricot was given to Subtotals, by Iranian filmmaker Mohammadreza Farzad, while the Silver Apricot went to The Dead Will Understand, directed by Ana Jegnaradze and Marita Tevzadze from Georgia.

Here is the full list of award winners at the 19^th Golden Apricot International Film Festival:

International Full-Length Competition

Golden Apricot
Return To Dust - Li Ruijun (China)

Silver Apricot
Aurora's Sunrise [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Inna Sahakyan
film profile] - Inna Sahakyan (Armenia/Lithuania/Germany)

Special Mention
Unrest [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cyril Schäublin
film profile] - Cyril Schaublin (Switzerland)

Regional Competition

Golden Apricot
Sonne [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kurdwin Ayub
film profile] - Kurdwin Ayub (Austria)

Silver Apricot
The Apple Day - Mahmoud Ghaffari (Iran)

Special Mention
Rojek - Zaynê Akyol (Canada)

FIPRESCI Prize - Peter van Bueren
The Apple Day - Mahmoud Ghaffari

Apricot Stone

Golden Apricot
Subtotals - Mohammadreza Farzad (Poland/Germany/Iran)

Silver Apricot
The Dead Will Understand - Ana Jegnaradze, Marita Tevzadze (Georgia)

Special Mention
Night - Ahmad Saleh (Qatar/Jordan/Germany/Palestine)

Best Armenian Short
Korean Delicacy - Hambardzum Hambardzumyan (Armenia)