Arpa International Film Festival Takes Off in Los Angeles
Haik Gazarian's "Venezzia" will see its world premiere at the Arpa International Film Festival
The 12th annual Arpa International Film Festival is in full gear at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles, Calif. as it showcases close to 50 films from 23 countries, including United States, Armenia, Iran, Germany, Venezuela, Turkey, Malawi, Israel, India and Mexico among others over the span of three days, Oct. 23 to Oct. 25.
Notable films in the festival include “Autumn (Sonbahar)” from Turkey, “One Day After the Tenth Day” from Iran, “Return to Mexico City from Mexico,:” “Venezzia” from Venezuela and the Oscar-nominated for the “Foreign Language Film” category, “Autumn of the Magician” from Armenia. “Autumn of a Magician,” written and directed by Rouben and Vaheh Gevorkyants is a 2007 documentary following the life and work of Italian screenwriter Tonino Guerra, along with his love affair with Armenia.
The festival also features two recipients – Lucy Martens and Marjorie Wright – of the Armin T. Wegner Arpa Humanitarian Award. Martens and Wright developed the documentary “Voices From Inside – Israelis Speak,” which will be shown at the festival. The award is named after Armin T. Wegner, a German soldier and human rights activist who, as a member of the German Sanitary Corps. disobeyed orders and began to investigate the Armenian Genocide, gathering notes, annotations, documents and hundreds of photographs of the Armenian deportation camps. He also penned an open letter to then president Woodrow Wilson to protest against the Armenian Genocide.
Founded by Sylvia Minassian in 1995, the Arpa Foundation for Film, Music and Art (AFFMA) promotes the arts and provides support to filmmakers exploring subjects of social and cultural importance.
The festival featured opening night host Jill Simonian and will be closed by the Hollyscoop Girls. Venezuelan born guitarist Ernesto Ferro as well as the WJH Experience jazz band will provide musical performances while Academy-Award nominated director and producer Stuart Sender, actor and producer Vachik Mangassarian, whose most recent credit includes “The Stoning of Soraya M” and Stuart Manashil, a Motion Picture Literary Agent at Creative Artists Agency.
Ianyan will be bringing you reviews of Autumn of the Magician with “Voice of the Voiceless,” a 2009 documentary by David Sarkissian and Ovsanna Hovsepyan that details the lives of farm animals, from their ill-fated birth to inevitable and agonizing death. Sarkissian and Hovsepyan became vegetarians and dedicated their lives to protecting animals in Armenia
Watch the trailer for “Autumn of the Magician” here, and “Voice of the “Voiceless” below.
