The 23rd Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival, running from July 12 to 19, held its official opening ceremony on July 13, bringing together internationally acclaimed filmmakers, award-winning films, and cinema professionals from around the world.
The ceremony took place at the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concert Complex, where the festival launched with the screening of “In the Land of Arto” (Le Pays d’Arto), an Armenian-French co-production drama directed by Tamara Stepanyan.
The film follows a woman who travels to Armenia after the death of her husband. It opened the Locarno Film Festival in August 2025 and has since traveled across several continents before finally reaching audiences in the homeland that inspired it.
“Opening the Locarno Film Festival is one thing, but opening my beloved homeland’s Golden Apricot is something entirely different. This film is a love letter to my homeland, our cinema, our wounds and our lost lands. I tried to transform that love letter into a film,” Stepanyan said before the screening.
The festival is held with the support of Armenia’s Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport as part of the state cinema program, with the Yerevan Municipality as its main sponsor for the past five years. The evening began with “Chora Gavit: A Score for Moving Bodies,” a spatial musical installation-performance created in cooperation with the Hosq Foundation, followed by a red carpet ceremony attended by Deputy Ministers of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Tigran Virabyan and Alfred Kocharyan, Yerevan Deputy Mayor Levon Hovhannisyan, ambassadors, and international guests.
Golden Apricot Recognized Among World’s Leading Festivals
Festival Director and Artistic Director Karen Avetisyan said Golden Apricot is now among the 50 film festivals recognized by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF).
“This is the result of decades of work, particularly in recent years, aimed at strengthening the festival’s position in the region. In a difficult and dramatic region, we have sought to create a cultural value that is recognized internationally,” Avetisyan said.
Hovhannisyan, calling Golden Apricot one of Yerevan’s defining cultural landmarks, noted that of more than 5,000 film festivals worldwide, it now ranks among the top 50.
According to Avetisyan, the festival is hosting around 200 international guests, including Oscar-winning filmmaker Pawe? Pawlikowski, cinematographers Bruno Delbonnel and Mahmoud Kalari, and trumpeter, pianist and composer Ibrahim Maalouf, who will also perform a concert at the sports and concert complex. The program also includes educational initiatives, industry events organized in cooperation with the Cannes Film Festival, exhibitions, and events marking the 100th anniversary of the Armenian silent film “Namus.”
A Festival Connecting Armenia with Global Cinema
Festival founder and president Harutyun Khachatryan recalled that the idea for Golden Apricot took shape in 2003, together with his teacher Mikayel Stamboltsyan and film critic Susanna Harutyunyan, who decided to establish it because it was an essential necessity for Armenian cinema. Established the following year, in 2004, it has become the leading international event of its kind in the South Caucasus, focusing on auteur cinema while also presenting independent and mainstream productions.
“The festival has come a long way, and a good country like Armenia truly deserves such a festival,” Khachatryan said.
Over the years, Golden Apricot has hosted some of the most influential figures in world cinema, including Wim Wenders, Darren Aronofsky, Abbas Kiarostami, Asghar Farhadi, and Atom Egoyan, as well as actors Ornella Muti and Claudia Cardinale.
This year’s program includes 90 films from 40 countries, screening at the Cinema House, Moscow Cinema, and Nairi Cinema. The International Competition features 12 films, while the Regional Competition presents 10 titles from Western Asia, among them productions exploring stories from the Arab world, including “With Hasan in Gaza,” “Safe Exit,” and “Habibi Hussein.” The Yerevan Premiere section presents films that have recently screened at or won awards from major international festivals, among them Pawlikowski’s “Fatherland,” inspired by the life of German writer Thomas Mann.
Awards Presented During Opening Ceremony
Khachatryan presented the festival’s “Golden Apricot Master Award” to Austrian filmmaker Jessica Hausner, president of this year’s International Jury, saying the honor goes to artists who have not only created outstanding cinema but have influenced world filmmaking through their stories and distinctive artistic vision. A great admirer of documentary filmmaking, he added, he nonetheless considers Hausner among the world’s finest directors.
The Parajanov Thaler Award went to French cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel, known for his work on several installments of the Harry Potter franchise, for his outstanding contribution to world cinema.
The musical segment featured Ibrahim Maalouf, who performed a special improvisation dedicated to the centenary of “Namus,” widely considered the first Armenian feature film. The festival’s three founders then officially declared the 23rd Golden Apricot open.
Simon Abkarian Presents De Gaulle Film
French-Armenian actor, playwright, and director Simon Abkarian, whose career in theatre and cinema spans nearly half a century, is among the honorary guests and attended the July 13 opening. On July 16, he will present “De Gaulle: Resistance,” a historical biographical drama directed by Antonin Baudry that stars Abkarian as General Charles de Gaulle and premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, where the actor was met with a standing ovation.
The film recounts the events of June 1940, when, amid France’s capitulation, the then little-known general left for London to launch the Free France movement and lead resistance to the Nazi occupation.
“He was fighting for his country, and unfortunately, we Armenians know very well what that means. My Armenian identity lies at the heart of who I am as an actor and of my profession. I also know Lebanese and French culture and the diaspora very well,” Abkarian said, adding that all these experiences inform his performances.
“Charles de Gaulle was a man who refused to accept defeat and restored his country’s honor. He saved not only France, but also France’s honor,” he stressed.
Discussing Armenian cinema, Abkarian stressed the need to tell a wider range of stories about Armenia and the diaspora.
“We have many stories to tell. Both Armenia and the diaspora are rich in stories, and we must claim our place in cinema not only through films about the Armenian Genocide, but also by telling stories about who we are and what makes us distinctive. Others should understand that we are a people rich in history, struggle, literature, art and technology,” Abkarian said.
Abkarian began his career in the United States in the early 1980s before joining Ariane Mnouchkine’s legendary Théâtre du Soleil in France, and has since worked with directors including Cédric Klapisch, Atom Egoyan, Robert Guédiguian, Sally Potter, and Fatih Akin, portraying Armenian figures such as painter Arshile Gorky and resistance fighter Missak Manouchian. He won the Molière Award for Best Actor in 2001, and in 2020 received Molière awards for his work as a director and Francophone playwright.
Retrospectives, Tributes and Special Programs
The festival features full retrospectives of two of its most prominent guests, presenting Pawe? Pawlikowski’s “Cold War,” “Ida” and “Fatherland” alongside Jessica Hausner’s “Club Zero,” “Hotel” and “Lovely Rita.” Its Tribute section honors Iranian filmmaker Bahram Beyzai, Hungarian director Béla Tarr, and Bruno Delbonnel, whose tribute screening is Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s “Amélie.”
Tarr, a founding figure of slow cinema, died in Budapest on January 6, 2026, at the age of 70. The festival will mark his passing with a screening of his seven-hour classic “Sátántangó” on July 18 at the Nairi Cinema.
Golden Apricot will also host meetings with filmmakers, professional discussions, workshops, and masterclasses. Among the guests is Oscar-nominated producer Sev Ohanian, who will present “My Big Fat Armenian Family,” the micro-budget debut he wrote, directed and produced at the age of 20, on July 18.
The festival closes with Godfrey Reggio’s “Once within a Time,” and winners of the competition sections will be announced on July 20.
