Blockade - Armenian premiere in Yerevan
Blockade - Armenian premiere in Yerevan
Blockade directed by Hakob Melkonyan will be presented at the 17nd Golden Apricot Yerevan IFF in the Armenian Panorama program.
Film screenings:
-
3d Novembre 2020 — 6 pm | Cinema House, Grand Hall
-
5th Novembre 2020 — 6 pm | Cinema House, Grand Hall
Young people walk several miles each day on their way to school, ignoring the danger of Azeri snipers. On the spot, villagers sell or exchange their meager crops for a little sugar, cereal, and rare medicines. The inhabitants have to look after themselves. Only the wounded or the sick are transported to the military hospital.
In the village, many houses are empty or in ruins abandoned by their occupants. The Petrossians stay and work their land. Repetitive gestures and rare words. Then they have to prepare the meals. The mother spins sheep's wool while the son learns to use a rifle. The father is the guardian of the cemetery where the dead are buried in the fog to avoid enemy fire; and every month he has to join other volunteer soldiers to fight at the border posts.
Sometimes when everything is calm, we hear the sounds of nature, the words of the Petrossians, the teachers with their schoolchildren, the military briefing before the fight, and finally, the conversations between young villagers who talk about the war that hasn’t stopped in thirty years. This is the life of the Petrossian’s, a life in an endless war.
Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival
In Armenia’s past there have been many crossroads of cultures and civilizations, as it has been a flash point for competing geopolitical forces for millennia. This resulted in a civilization replete with international influences and a dynamic arts heritage. Hence GAIFF’s impassioned mantra is to build bridges and foster dialogue between different cultures. GAIFF welcomes films representing diverse ethnic groups, religions, and nations that depict the human experience. GAIFF wants to show the everyday lives of ordinary and extraordinary people alike, , along with their troubles and joys. Illustrating their journey as they try to find meaning and struggle to redefine themselves in a world that recognizes fewer and fewer boundaries and is always changing.
Yerevan, as the capital, is an evolving testament to Armenia’s heritage, and GAIFF has fast become a premier destination for regional filmmakers, particularly those advancing universal values of peace, cultural harmony and mutual understanding. Accordingly, GAIFF features a multitude of films representing various nations, ethnicities, and religions, collectively depicting the full richness of humankind.
GAIFF is different from other film festivals as it is smaller in scale and hence more intimate, nevertheless it garners international attention and respect.
The films are presented in two international competition sections: features and documentaries. The Golden Apricot (grand prize) and the Silver Apricot (special mention) are awarded in each category. The Armenian Panorama is the pan-Armenian competitive section of the festival for films produced by filmmakers of Armenian descent. GAIFF also has three sections outside of competition to showcase more outstanding films: Non-competitive, Retrospective and Tribute.