YEREVAN-TOURINFO- Armenia’s First Village Film Festival “Apricot Tree” will have its 5th edition on September 14-20, 2019 in the village of Ujan (Aragatsotni Province), with parallel film screenings in Yerevan’s Moscow Cinema.
Most cultural events in Armenia take place in the capital Yerevan, while the rural population is mostly devoid of the opportunity to get acquainted with processes not only in international, but even in local art. An initiative of Filmadaran Film Culture Development NGO, Apricot Tree Ujan IFF has a stated goal of decentralizing the cultural life in Armenia and making the rural population an active part of it. This is why participants of the festival stay at the homes of the cordial villagers, sharing bread with them every day and getting to live the true Armenian rural experience.
The opening ceremony (open to all), will take place in the Ujan Village Freedom Fighters Memorial Square followed by the screening of “The Last Day” in memory of filmmaker Alexander Rastorguev.
“The Last Day” is about Velvet Revolution in Armenia. On April 23rd, 2018, after 11 days of massive acts of civil disobedience, the Armenian prime minister finally decided to resign from his post. The day preceding this historic event was one of worries and emotional turmoil, especially for the family of the leader of the protests Nikol Pashinyan, who was detained by the police and kept in a secret location.
Russian director Alexander Rastorguev manages to capture unique and emotionally charged footage, primarily focusing on Ashot, Nikol’s son, as he leads us through this last decisive day, barricading streets and pondering about the state of things.
The competition program this year includes 21 documentaries from all around the world – France, Russia, Germany, Iran etc., both short and feature-length. The colorful program not only has ethnographic films, depicting the heartbeats of various communities on the planet, but also stylish and more experimental documentaries, combining feature and animated elements and trying to expand upon traditional means of cinematic expression.
Parallel to the events in Ujan all festival films will also be screened in Yerevan’s Moscow Cinema, while the Goethe-Zentrum Eriwan will host a series of meetings and master classes with the directors
Closing ceremony will be held on September 19 in Ujan, where awards will be announced, and then on September 20th in Yerevan with the screening of award winner’s films in Moscow Cinema.
