Golden Apricot Yerevan 11th International Film Festival was opened on Sunday, July 13. The traditional apricot blessing ceremony was held at St. Grigor Lusavorich Church in Yerevan.
.Later at Moscow Cinema a photo exhibition presenting Sergei Parajanov (author Yury Garmash) was opened as a dedication to the great artist.
The opening film screening– “Color of Pommegranate” by Parajanov was preceded by the ceremony of granting special festival medals to two remarkable artists who had worked on the film- Maestro Tigran Mansuryan, the composer of the film and Stepan Andranikyan, the painter of the film.
The official opening ceremony followed the screening at State Theatre of Opera and Ballet. The Prime Minister of the RA, Mr. Hovik Abrahamyan and the General Manager of VivaCell-MTS, the General Partner of the festival welcomed the audience with speeches.
The ceremony programme presented art installations on themes of Parajanov (artistic director Rino Stephano Tagliafiero). The competition programmes and the Boards of Jury were presented.
The ceremony featured world famous Armenian soprano Hasmik Papian, who performed Sayat Nova accompanied by duduk performed by Gevorg Dabaghyan and Grigor Tantushyan.
The festival opening was celebrated by the Parajanov Thaler Award granting ceremony to the world famous filmmaker and an honorable guest of the festival Kim Ki-duk, who not only greeted the audience with a speech of gratitude but also made an amazing surprise by performing a piece from a national Korean song.
