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Top Honors Awarded At The 15th Arpa International Film Festival

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  • Top Honors Awarded At The 15th Arpa International Film Festival

    Top Honors Awarded At The 15th Arpa International Film Festival

    http://asbarez.com/107450/top-honors-awarded-at-the-15th-arpa-international-film-festival/
    Friday, January 4th, 2013



    AFFMA

    HOLLYWOOD - 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 four 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.

    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.

    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.

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