An Azeri film will be presented at the Golden Apricot film festival this year. The head of the GAIFF Pro program, Sona Karapogosyan, spoke about this during a press conference about the Regional Panorama program. Thirteen films are to be a part of this program- 3 films each from Armenia, Turkey, and Iran, 2 from Georgia, and one from Azerbaijan.

The director of the Golden Apricot film festival programs Karen Avetisyan spoke about the Regional Panorama program. He said that the Armenian Panorama has been an important part of Golden Apricot for many years. The program has spread this year so that Armenian films can be presented alongside other films in the region. This will cause competition for film directors in other countries, and it will cause them to try and understand what topics interest people in the region.

“When a regional program is put in place, the entire region will be presented without any limitations since we have an international formula. This means that if a country sends a film, the festival has to present it,” Karen Avetisyan said. He also said that it isn’t clear yet as far as whether or not the Azeri film director will visit Armenia. He also noted that the film is called “Aliens” and the director is an ethnic Azeri from Russia. However, the film is an Azeri production.

Gohar Hakobyan