Yerevan 2011: Golden Apricot

The 8th Golden Apricot International Film Festival in Yerevan, Armenia, ran from 10-17 July 2011, offering a number of finely selected programs, including international feature and documentary competitions, an Armenian panorama and a new program of short films called "Stone" — the apricot kernel. The festival presented a retrospective of Béla Tarr, who had come to Yerevan for the occasion and to receive a special award from the hands of the fest's president Atom Egoyan at the closing ceremony. (b.b.)

Golden Apricot Film Festival, Yerevan, Armenia, July 10-17, 2011, www.gaiff.am
The FIPRESCI jury traditionally gives its prize to a film from the region: the award went to the film Mandoo (Lost) by Ebrahim Saeedi (Iraq). Details

Reports

Rites and Rituals. "Armenian culture is no doubt very rich and the country's history very old", writes Birgit Beumers in her overview on the films from the region, "yet without question the genocide of the Armenian people in 1915 has traumatised the nation, and this trauma is echoed in the works of numerous artists and filmmakers, whether they live in the country or in exile." More on films from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Armenia
Crossing the Border. Övgü Gökce reviews Mandoo, the winner of the Critics Prize. She writes: The film tells a "story that takes place in the border region of Iraq and Iran, focusing on the journey of an Iranian family who took refuge in Iraq during the political turmoil caused by the Iran-Iraq war in 1979."

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