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AFFMA: Azad, The Suffering Grasses, Just Like Her, Take Top Honors

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  • AFFMA: Azad, The Suffering Grasses, Just Like Her, Take Top Honors

    PRESS RELEASE
    Arpa Foundation for Film Music and Art (AFFMA)
    2919 Maxwell Street, Los Angeles, CA 90027
    www.affma.org
    Contact: Beve Regas / Kalista PR
    (818) 566-9769 / [email protected]

    AZAD, THE SUFFERING GRASSES, JUST LIKE HER, TAKE TOP HONORS
    AT THE 15TH ARPA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

    Hollywood, CA - Cinema patrons, industry veterans and emerging filmmakers
    came out to the Egyptian Theatre to see the most highly anticipated films
    of the year and to celebrate the best of the 15th Arpa International Film
    Festival (AFFMA.org) at a star-studded gala Awards Ceremony at the
    Sheraton Universal Hotel.

    Over 4 rainy days from Thursday, November 29 to Sunday, December 2, 2012,
    Arpa International Film Festival showcased over 60 films from around the
    globe, Q&A's, receptions as well as a first ever GEMAI industry panel
    discussion highlighting new technologies for the Deaf and Blind.

    2012 marked a high point for Arpa Foundation for Film, Music and Art. "Not
    only did we celebrate 15 years of staging the film festival in Los
    Angeles," said the organization's founder, Sylvia Minassian, "but AFFMA was
    itself recognized for its continued efforts to support artists and
    filmmakers." In 2012, AFFMA was the recipient of an Armenian Heritage Award
    by Los Angeles City Council and the office of Eric Garcetti, and a Roll
    Global Grant for its humanitarian efforts. It is the major highlight of a
    year of accomplishments for the organization which includes founder
    Minassian as a recipient of the Golden Medal of the Ministry of Culture of
    the Republic of Armenia, one of the highest Armenian cultural awards.

    Arpa International Film Festival director Alex Kalognomos said, "This year
    we added even more internationally themed films to the film program. We
    also had sold-out screenings throughout the festival, beginning with the
    800-person opening night sell-out for LOST & FOUND IN ARMENIA. We continued
    to break attendance records as the Los Angeles audiences came out to take
    part in the all the festival has to offer."

    The festival culminated with a Gala event and awards ceremony at which
    filmmakers, sponsors, and honored guests were celebrated for making this
    year's festival a milestone event. The evening's mistress of ceremonies,
    Marla Maples, invited the filmmakers who were presented their awards after
    each of their screenings to join her on stage and take a bow for their
    achievements.

    BEST PICTURE was awarded to Nicolas Tackian for his French drama AZAD

    BEST DIRECTOR kudos was delivered to Caner Alper and Mehmet Binay for the
    Turkish film ZENNE DANCER.

    BEST SCREENPLAY Award was given to Arshaluys Harutyunyan for the Armenian
    drama WANDERING

    The BEST DOCUMENTARY Feature Award for THE SUFFERING GRASSES: WHEN
    ELEPHANTS FIGHT, IT IS THE GRASS THAT SUFFERS was presented to Yara Lee.

    Eddie Deleon Melikyan accepted the award for BEST SHORT FILM for directing
    JUST LIKE HER.

    Also present were the 2012 special award honorees. Presenters such as
    filmmaker Haik Gazarian and actress Valentina Rendon presented Hrach
    Titizian with the Breakthrough Actor of the Year Award; actress Heather
    McComb presented Michael Poghosian the Artist of the Year Award;
    actor/filmmaker Sebastian Siegel awarded Frances Fisher the Career
    Achievement Award; AFFMA Founder Sylvia Minassian presented Lusine
    Sahakyan, director of "Hamshen at Crossroads of Past and Present"
    (Armenia,Turkey) with the prestigious Armin T. Wegner Humanitarian Award;
    Actress Anoush NeVart presented the Arpa Foundation Award to recipient USC
    Shoah Foundation, The Institute For Visual History And Education. The award
    was accepted by Dr. Stephen D. Smith, MBE, PhD who spoke about the merits
    of supporting independent cinema and archiving efforts such as those by the
    Shoah Foundation. And Achievement in International Cinema Award was
    accepted by "Lost & Found in Armenia" (Armenia, USA) director, Gor
    Kirakosian.

    The awards were determined by a panel of industry experts which included
    Filmmaker Debra Attoinese ("Zoe"), Actor and filmmaker Charles Davis,
    consulting Executive Producer Max Howard (SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE
    CIMARRON, SAVING SANTA), Inferno Entertainment EVP of Production and
    Development Ara Keshishian, entertainment lawyer JD Larson, Motion Picture
    Literary Agent at Creative Artists Agency (CAA) Stuart Manashil and
    Award-winning Executive Producer and Motion Picture Executive Howard
    Rosenman (COMMON THREADS: STORIES FROM THE QUILT, SPARKLE, FATHER OF THE
    BRIDE, THE FAMILY MAN).

    "Fifteen years makes Arpa International Film Festival one of the longest
    standing film festivals in Los Angeles," said Minassian. "We are very
    committed to supporting independent filmmakers and depend on community
    support to make events such as the festival possible." This year's key
    sponsors were Tacori, Horizon TV, Yerevan Magazine, and Siera Jewelers.
    "Without the support of sponsors," said Kalognomos during his opening
    remarks at the Gala, "...it would be impossible to stage such an event
    where everyone's influence and creativity build unity and success." AFFMA,
    a non-profit organization, annually stages entertainment industry
    networking mixers, art exhibits, and fashion shows in an effort to
    fundraise for its signature event, the film festival.

    For the first time in its history, AFFMA awarded the winners of Best
    Feature, Best Short, and Best Documentary a cash award. "Such recognitions
    help us fulfill our commitment as an art organization to give grants and
    support the efforts of such fine filmmakers," added Minassian.

    For more photo highlights from the festival, please visit:
    www.facebook.com/ArpaFilmFestival

    AFFMA, a non-profit organization, was founded for the purpose of
    enhancing Los Angeles's creative environment and supporting those artists
    who bridge the cultural divide. Each year, AFFMA stages networking events,
    concerts, art exhibits, fashion shows, book signings, and various benefits
    to promote emerging talents. Most significantly, AFFMA produces Arpa
    International Film Festival to unify diverse people and cultures through
    film. Since 1997, the Festival has honored over 100 artists and filmmakers
    with grants and awards. Visit www.affma.org for more information.

    ARMIN T. WEGNER HUMANITARIAN AWARD marks its 10th year as one of Arpa
    International Film Festival's top honors awarded during the festival. First
    presented by Arpa International Film Festival in 2002, this Award is named
    after German author and human rights activist Armin Theophil Wegner
    (October 16, 1886 - May 17, 1978).

    LUSINE SAHAKYAN, HAMSHEN AT THE CROSSROADS OF PAST AND PRESENT (ARMIN T.
    WEGNER HUMANITARIAN AWARD) Dedicated to the current state of the
    descendants of the Armenians of Hamshen (Hamshentsis), the film explores a
    people who were Islamicized by the Ottoman Empire in the 18th century.
    Today, they live primarily in the provinces of Rizeh and Artvin, as well as
    in Istanbul and other cities of Turkey. The film presents unique episodes
    from the history and culture of the Armenian Principality of Hamshen, and
    the practice of Islamization, a form of ethnic cleansing. Based on material
    shot on location, the present-day culture of the Hamshentsis is chronicled:
    their songs and dances, customs, linguistic situation, as well as their
    everyday life and occupations, conceptions of their own identity, and the
    demographic picture.

    FRANCES FISHER (ARPA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2012 CAREER ACHIEVEMENT
    AWARD), whose unforgettable roles in such iconic films as TITANIC,
    UNFORGIVEN and HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG, began her illustrious theatrical,
    film and television career.

    MICHAEL POGHOSIAN (ARTIST OF THE YEAR AWARD) whose films, LOST AND FOUND
    IN ARMENIA and IF ONLY EVERYONE, the official entry from Armenia to the
    Academy Awards Foreign Language category, mark this year's opening and
    closing night films. Poghosian, a celebrated actor in Russia and Armenia,
    was recognized for his decades-long career as an actor, producer and
    screenwriter.

    USC SHOAH FOUNDATION - The Institute for Visual History and Education
    (ARPA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL FOUNDATION AWARD) Inspired by his
    experience making SCHINDLER'S LIST, Steven Spielberg established the Shoah
    Foundation in 1994 to gather video testimonies from survivors and other
    witnesses of the Holocaust. Currently, the Institute's Visual History
    Archive (VHA) holds nearly 52,000 video testimonies that were recorded in
    56 countries and in 32 languages. The VHA is the largest digital collection
    of its kind in the world and is accessible worldwide for research and
    education at http://sfi.usc.edu .

    HRACH TITIZIAN (ARPA INTERNATIONAL BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMER OF THE YEAR
    AWARD) Filmmaker and acting school founder, Hrach Titizian recently
    appeared on Broadway in the award- winning Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo,
    on television in numerous shows including `Homeland', `24' and `Common
    Law', and in indie favorites such as FLOAT, featuring Gregory Itzen.
    http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1553955/

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