The Armenian Film Society (AFS) has unveiled the highly-anticipated program for the 2024 Armenian Film Festival, which will take place at LOOK Cinemas in Glendale, CA from September 4 to 8, 2024. This marks the second Armenian Film Festival to be held in Glendale, following the successful inaugural event in 2023, which drew over 1,500 attendees from around the world, reports Zartonk Media.
This year’s festival will host the premieres of a number of films, many of which will be screened in the United States or Los Angeles for the first time, offering audiences a rare opportunity to see some of the most critically acclaimed Armenian films of the year.
The festival features a powerhouse lineup, including the U.S. premiere of Atom Egoyan’s Seven Veils, starring Academy Award-nominated actress Amanda Seyfried. Egoyan, one of the most celebrated contemporary filmmakers on the international scene, is an Academy Award-nominated director and has won numerous prizes at prestigious film festivals, including Cannes.
The closing night will showcase The Last Repair Shop, directed by Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film in 2024. The film tells the story of four unsung heroes dedicated to ensuring that no student misses the joy of music, focusing on Steve Bagmanyan, who shares his experiences of ethnic persecution in Azerbaijan in the 1980s. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Bagmanyan, leading into the festival’s closing night celebration.
The 2024 Armenian Film Festival will also highlight several other award-winning films, including Jean-Bernard Marlin’s Salem, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, and the restored and remastered version of Gor Kirakosian’s 2006 classic comedy Big Story in a Small City. Additionally, the festival will feature three documentaries spotlighting Artsakh: Alexis Pazoumian’s The Black Garden, Emily Mkrtchian’s There Was, There Was Not, and Shoghakat Vardanyan’s 1489, the latter of which won Best Film and the FIPRESCI Award at the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA).
Producer Anahid Nazarian will engage in a conversation with Emmy-winning actor and director Michael Goorjian. Nazarian, who has worked alongside legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola for over 40 years, has credits that include The Outsiders, Rumble Fish, The Godfather Part III, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and the upcoming Megalopolis. Goorjian’s Amerikatsi, the opening night film of the 2023 Armenian Film Festival, became the first Armenian film to be shortlisted for the Academy Awards’ Best International Feature Film category.
This year’s festival continues to celebrate Armenian cinema with a selection of films curated from major international festivals, including Cannes and Toronto. Over 20 short films will be showcased, including an “Around the World” program featuring works by Armenian filmmakers from Switzerland, France, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. Notably, 13 of the 34 directors in this year’s program are women, and 16 of the 31 films are produced by Armenians.
“We can’t wait to welcome everyone back to the Armenian Film Festival, which will serve as a destination for audiences to see the very best in Armenian cinema. We’re very grateful to be able to present some of these films for the first time ever, and we look forward to having new audiences discover Armenian stories,” said AFS Founders Armen and Mary Karaoghlanian.
Zartonk Media is a proud sponsor of the 2024 Armenian Film Festival.
Full program details and tickets can be found on the Armenian Film Society’s website.
Founded in 2015 by Armen and Mary Karaoghlanian, the Armenian Film Society champions Armenian films and filmmakers. AFS has partnered with organizations such as Vidiots, American Cinematheque, and the Academy Museum, and has welcomed notable guests including Atom Egoyan, Howard Kazanjian, Joe Manganiello, Mardik Martin, and Sev Ohanian.
