WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.459 Welcome back to the deep dive. So today we are 00:00:02.459 --> 00:00:05.440 we're traveling Mentally, at least. Always the 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:07.160 best way to travel on a budget. Right, exactly. 00:00:07.599 --> 00:00:09.759 We are heading over to the Southern Caucasus. 00:00:09.779 --> 00:00:12.419 Yes. Specifically to a city that holds this incredible 00:00:12.419 --> 00:00:15.080 title of being one of the oldest continuously 00:00:15.080 --> 00:00:17.760 inhabited cities in the world. Yeah, Yurovan, 00:00:17.960 --> 00:00:20.640 Armenia. Yurovan. And we're not just there for, 00:00:20.679 --> 00:00:23.660 you know, the sightseeing or a standard history 00:00:23.660 --> 00:00:26.120 lesson. We're actually looking at a cultural 00:00:26.120 --> 00:00:28.760 phenomenon that has managed to turn this historic 00:00:28.760 --> 00:00:32.219 capital into a massive and honestly surprising 00:00:32.219 --> 00:00:40.369 hub for... It really is surprising. Or, if you 00:00:40.369 --> 00:00:42.350 want to be linguistically accurate, and I always 00:00:42.350 --> 00:00:44.450 think the local name carries a bit more flavor, 00:00:44.630 --> 00:00:47.549 it's Voskitsiron. Voskitsiron. That sounds really 00:00:47.549 --> 00:00:49.850 poetic. It is. It literally translates to golden 00:00:49.850 --> 00:00:52.270 apricot. And honestly, I mean, in the world of 00:00:52.270 --> 00:00:54.390 film festivals where everything is a golden lion 00:00:54.390 --> 00:00:57.869 or a bear or a palm. A fruit is a bold choice. 00:00:58.130 --> 00:01:00.710 It's a very distinct choice. Naming your festival 00:01:00.710 --> 00:01:04.120 after a fruit just stands out. It sounds delicious, 00:01:04.439 --> 00:01:06.599 honestly. But before we get totally distracted 00:01:06.599 --> 00:01:09.319 by the fruit, let's set the stage for you listening. 00:01:09.379 --> 00:01:11.340 Because when most people think of the International 00:01:11.340 --> 00:01:14.780 Film Festival circuit, they have a very specific 00:01:14.780 --> 00:01:17.480 bingo card in their head. Right. Con, Venice, 00:01:17.900 --> 00:01:20.480 Toronto. Swiss and Dance, exactly. So why are 00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:23.379 we dedicating an entire deep dive to the Golden 00:01:23.379 --> 00:01:26.260 Apricot? Like, what is the mission here and why 00:01:26.260 --> 00:01:29.170 does this specific festival matter? Well, it's 00:01:29.170 --> 00:01:32.010 a fascinating case study in how a festival actually 00:01:32.010 --> 00:01:34.989 defines a nation's cultural standing, because 00:01:34.989 --> 00:01:37.189 this isn't just about rolling out a red carpet 00:01:37.189 --> 00:01:39.150 and popping champagne for celebrities. Right. 00:01:39.230 --> 00:01:41.450 The mission statement of the Golden Apricot right 00:01:41.450 --> 00:01:43.829 from the start is crossroads of cultures and 00:01:43.829 --> 00:01:45.650 civilizations. Which is a pretty heavy title. 00:01:46.159 --> 00:01:48.340 That is a lot of pressure to put on a film festival. 00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:51.299 It is, yeah. But it fits the geography perfectly 00:01:51.299 --> 00:01:53.319 when you think about it. You have to remember 00:01:53.319 --> 00:01:56.040 exactly where Armenia sits on the map. It's right 00:01:56.040 --> 00:01:58.500 at that intersection of east and west, north 00:01:58.500 --> 00:02:01.379 and south. It's a literal bridge. Exactly. And 00:02:01.379 --> 00:02:04.480 since it was founded in 2004, this festival hasn't 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:07.140 just been about showing movies. It's been actively 00:02:07.140 --> 00:02:09.520 trying to depict the richness of the human experience 00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:12.840 by bringing together diverse nations, diverse 00:02:12.840 --> 00:02:15.840 religions, people who might not... otherwise 00:02:15.840 --> 00:02:18.960 sit in the same room. So our goal today is to 00:02:18.960 --> 00:02:23.039 figure out how a festival founded in 2004, which, 00:02:23.139 --> 00:02:25.599 let's be honest, is relatively young in festival 00:02:25.599 --> 00:02:27.979 years, managed to attract some of the absolute 00:02:27.979 --> 00:02:30.120 heaviest hitters in cinema history. You're talking 00:02:30.120 --> 00:02:33.129 actual legends. And we also need to look at how 00:02:33.129 --> 00:02:35.830 it navigates the tricky waters of cultural expression 00:02:35.830 --> 00:02:39.129 in a region that is constantly in flux. So we 00:02:39.129 --> 00:02:41.430 have a really great stack of sources here to 00:02:41.430 --> 00:02:42.849 go through. We've got the festival's history, 00:02:43.050 --> 00:02:45.270 their award records, organizational structure, 00:02:45.370 --> 00:02:48.229 and some news reports on a few specific controversies 00:02:48.229 --> 00:02:49.889 that popped up. Let's unpack it. I want to go 00:02:49.889 --> 00:02:53.430 back to the start. 2004. It was a different world. 00:02:53.569 --> 00:02:57.129 It really was. The early 2000s were a weird time 00:02:57.129 --> 00:02:59.909 for media. Streaming didn't exist yet. Digital 00:02:59.909 --> 00:03:02.569 projection was just barely starting out. And 00:03:02.569 --> 00:03:05.349 over in Yerevan, something very specific was 00:03:05.349 --> 00:03:08.990 brewing. So who actually sits down and decides 00:03:08.990 --> 00:03:11.270 we need a massive international film festival 00:03:11.270 --> 00:03:13.479 right now? Well, it was a collaborative effort, 00:03:13.560 --> 00:03:15.719 but the crucial thing is it was driven by artists. 00:03:15.979 --> 00:03:18.199 This wasn't some corporate boardroom decision 00:03:18.199 --> 00:03:20.939 or a tourist board initiative. Okay. You had 00:03:20.939 --> 00:03:22.919 the Golden Apricot Fund for Cinema Development 00:03:22.919 --> 00:03:25.180 working with the Armenian Association of Film 00:03:25.180 --> 00:03:28.340 Critics and Cinema Journalists. But the key figure, 00:03:28.400 --> 00:03:31.039 the real engine behind the whole thing, is Harutyun 00:03:31.039 --> 00:03:33.039 Kachatryan. He's a general director. Okay, correct. 00:03:33.159 --> 00:03:35.819 And he's a filmmaker himself. Which changes things. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:38.580 Completely. That distinction matters so much. 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:41.280 When a festival is run by an actual filmmaker, 00:03:41.419 --> 00:03:43.620 The priorities are just different. It becomes 00:03:43.620 --> 00:03:45.680 about the art first, not just the distribution 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:48.300 deals or the market. But they also knew that 00:03:48.300 --> 00:03:50.800 just being a local Armenian festival wouldn't 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:53.139 get them the global eyes they wanted. They needed 00:03:53.139 --> 00:03:55.000 to put it on the map immediately. So to give 00:03:55.000 --> 00:03:56.500 it that international weight right out of the 00:03:56.500 --> 00:03:59.259 gate, they brought in Adam Magoyan. The Canadian 00:03:59.259 --> 00:04:01.819 director, the guy who did the suite hereafter. 00:04:01.879 --> 00:04:05.110 The very same. Adam Egoyan is arguably the most 00:04:05.110 --> 00:04:07.789 famous director of the Armenian diaspora. He's 00:04:07.789 --> 00:04:10.150 massive in Canada, massive in Europe. So he was 00:04:10.150 --> 00:04:12.789 named president of the festival in 2005, and 00:04:12.789 --> 00:04:14.629 he currently serves as the honorary chairman. 00:04:15.129 --> 00:04:17.870 That feels like a strategic masterstroke, honestly. 00:04:18.189 --> 00:04:20.509 You just put Egoyan's name on the letterhead 00:04:20.509 --> 00:04:22.550 and suddenly the whole industry has to pay attention. 00:04:22.810 --> 00:04:25.149 It's instant credibility. It tells the global 00:04:25.149 --> 00:04:27.790 film community, hey, this is serious. We aren't 00:04:27.790 --> 00:04:30.050 playing around here. And the vibe they cultivated? 00:04:30.519 --> 00:04:33.500 Based on the sources, it wasn't just let's watch 00:04:33.500 --> 00:04:35.620 Hollywood blockbusters in Armenia. Not at all. 00:04:35.639 --> 00:04:37.819 It was specifically designed to present new works 00:04:37.819 --> 00:04:41.680 by filmmakers in Armenia, but also foreign cinematographers 00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:45.019 of Armenian descent alongside major international 00:04:45.019 --> 00:04:48.180 directors. So a real mix. Yeah, it was all about 00:04:48.180 --> 00:04:51.120 promoting originality in cinema and video art. 00:04:51.480 --> 00:04:53.660 And looking at the organizational chart here, 00:04:53.759 --> 00:04:56.000 this wasn't just some scrappy indie basement 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:00.220 project. They had serious institutional backing. 00:05:00.399 --> 00:05:02.980 Oh, absolutely. They had the backing of the Ministry 00:05:02.980 --> 00:05:05.240 of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture 00:05:05.240 --> 00:05:08.819 of Armenia. This was treated as a major national 00:05:08.819 --> 00:05:11.379 priority from day one. I want to look at the 00:05:11.379 --> 00:05:13.540 architecture of the festival itself for a second, 00:05:13.620 --> 00:05:16.560 because they have some really unique names for 00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:19.420 their awards. As you mentioned earlier, they 00:05:19.420 --> 00:05:21.399 leaned all the way into the fruit branding. They 00:05:21.399 --> 00:05:24.079 really did commit to the apricot. The Grand Prix, 00:05:24.319 --> 00:05:26.759 which is the big prize for best feature or best 00:05:26.759 --> 00:05:29.120 documentary, is the golden apricot. Naturally. 00:05:29.279 --> 00:05:30.860 Then you have the special prize, which is the 00:05:30.860 --> 00:05:32.839 silver apricot. That's a pretty standard hierarchy. 00:05:33.300 --> 00:05:36.259 Yeah, gold, silver, makes sense. But my favorite 00:05:36.259 --> 00:05:38.100 one, and the one that I think shows the most 00:05:38.100 --> 00:05:40.600 thoughtfulness from the organizers, is the award 00:05:40.600 --> 00:05:43.240 for the short film competition. It's called the 00:05:43.240 --> 00:05:46.800 apricot stone. The pit. Yeah. See, my very first 00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:48.959 reaction when I read that was that getting a 00:05:48.959 --> 00:05:51.439 stone sounds like you came in last place. Yeah. 00:05:51.500 --> 00:05:53.360 Like you're getting a lump of coal for Christmas. 00:05:53.459 --> 00:05:55.860 I can definitely see that interpretation. But 00:05:55.860 --> 00:05:58.759 think about the metaphor behind it. What actually 00:05:58.759 --> 00:06:03.019 is... A stone or a pit. It's a seed. Exactly. 00:06:03.019 --> 00:06:06.379 It's the potential for a tree. A short film is 00:06:06.379 --> 00:06:08.980 so often the very beginning of a director's career. 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:12.279 It's the kernel of their talent. Oh, wow. Yeah. 00:06:12.339 --> 00:06:14.740 So calling it the apricot stone implies that 00:06:14.740 --> 00:06:16.759 this is just the start of something that is going 00:06:16.759 --> 00:06:19.500 to grow. Okay. That is surprisingly poetic. Yeah. 00:06:19.560 --> 00:06:21.399 I completely take it back. I like the stone. 00:06:21.540 --> 00:06:23.540 It's lovely. But there's another award here that 00:06:23.540 --> 00:06:24.819 really caught my eye. It sounds like something 00:06:24.819 --> 00:06:27.660 straight out of a history book or maybe a fantasy 00:06:27.660 --> 00:06:31.420 novel. Parajanov's Fowler. Yes, this jumped out 00:06:31.420 --> 00:06:32.939 at me too in the notes. This is the Lifetime 00:06:32.939 --> 00:06:35.180 Achievement Award, correct? Yes, and for anyone 00:06:35.180 --> 00:06:37.720 who loves cinema history, this is basically the 00:06:37.720 --> 00:06:40.819 Holy Grail of references. It's named in honor 00:06:40.819 --> 00:06:43.839 of the legendary director Sergei Parajanov. And 00:06:43.839 --> 00:06:46.069 for those who might not know, who was he? He 00:06:46.069 --> 00:06:48.790 was a Soviet Armenian director who made these 00:06:48.790 --> 00:06:51.930 incredibly visual films like The Color of Pomegranates. 00:06:51.990 --> 00:06:55.170 He is widely considered one of the greatest visual 00:06:55.170 --> 00:06:58.069 stylists in the entire history of movies. His 00:06:58.069 --> 00:07:00.889 work literally looks like moving paintings. Wow. 00:07:01.089 --> 00:07:03.089 But more importantly for the context of this 00:07:03.089 --> 00:07:05.810 award, he was heavily persecuted by the Soviet 00:07:05.810 --> 00:07:08.810 regime. He was imprisoned. His films were banned. 00:07:08.990 --> 00:07:12.040 He genuinely suffered for his art. So winning 00:07:12.040 --> 00:07:14.339 Parajanov's Thaler isn't just getting a gold 00:07:14.339 --> 00:07:17.980 star for a long career. It's a nod from the absolute 00:07:17.980 --> 00:07:20.879 gods of arthouse cinema. Precisely. It connects 00:07:20.879 --> 00:07:23.360 you directly to that legacy of artistic resistance. 00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:25.779 It's a very, very heavy honor in the film world. 00:07:25.980 --> 00:07:28.079 Now, in terms of the structure of the categories, 00:07:28.220 --> 00:07:30.459 the festival isn't just one big melting pot of 00:07:30.459 --> 00:07:33.360 films. They have the International Feature Competition. 00:07:33.639 --> 00:07:35.920 They have the International Documentary Competition. 00:07:36.120 --> 00:07:38.079 But they also carve out something called the 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:40.680 Armenian Panorama. And this is such a crucial 00:07:40.680 --> 00:07:42.560 piece of the puzzle for a regional festival, 00:07:42.740 --> 00:07:45.779 because if you only import foreign films, you 00:07:45.779 --> 00:07:47.639 aren't really a festival. You're just a cinema 00:07:47.639 --> 00:07:50.379 hall playing foreign movies. Right. The Armenian 00:07:50.379 --> 00:07:53.259 Panorama is a specific national competition for 00:07:53.259 --> 00:07:56.180 both fiction and documentary films. And it's 00:07:56.180 --> 00:07:59.000 vital because it highlights local talent right 00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:02.360 alongside the global giants. It ensures the festival 00:08:02.360 --> 00:08:06.500 actually incubates Armenian creativity. It prevents 00:08:06.500 --> 00:08:08.360 the local artists from just getting completely 00:08:08.360 --> 00:08:11.040 drowned out by the big international names. Exactly. 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:13.360 And speaking of global integration, I see in 00:08:13.360 --> 00:08:15.220 the sources they didn't just stop at showing 00:08:15.220 --> 00:08:19.420 movies. In 2005, they initiated a network called 00:08:19.420 --> 00:08:22.220 Directors Across Borders. Which sounds a lot 00:08:22.220 --> 00:08:24.579 like a diplomatic initiative. In a way, it definitely 00:08:24.579 --> 00:08:26.680 is. It's a network for filmmakers across the 00:08:26.680 --> 00:08:29.819 region. And remember, the Caucasus is a region 00:08:29.819 --> 00:08:32.399 with very complex borders and several frozen 00:08:32.399 --> 00:08:35.340 conflicts. Yeah, it's not a simple map. a network 00:08:35.340 --> 00:08:37.440 specifically called Directors Across Borders 00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:40.919 is a massive statement in itself. And since 2005, 00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:43.480 the festival has actually functioned under the 00:08:43.480 --> 00:08:45.879 aegis of the European Cultural Parliament. And 00:08:45.879 --> 00:08:49.200 then in 2010, they were awarded the FICTS Plate 00:08:49.200 --> 00:08:52.360 d 'honneur. So they've really built this institutional 00:08:52.360 --> 00:08:55.419 framework that actively connects Armenia to Europe 00:08:55.419 --> 00:08:57.379 and the wider world. Right. They made themselves 00:08:57.379 --> 00:09:00.000 completely indispensable to the cultural conversation 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:02.440 in that entire region. OK, so we keep seeing 00:09:02.440 --> 00:09:05.169 global giants and heavy hitters. I think we need 00:09:05.169 --> 00:09:07.529 to prove it to you listening. Because when I 00:09:07.529 --> 00:09:10.029 first looked at the list of past winners in our 00:09:10.029 --> 00:09:12.990 source material, I genuinely did a double take. 00:09:13.169 --> 00:09:14.950 It's shocking. I assumed it would be smaller 00:09:14.950 --> 00:09:17.009 regional films that maybe I hadn't heard of. 00:09:17.049 --> 00:09:19.950 I was completely wrong. It is an incredibly impressive 00:09:19.950 --> 00:09:22.269 list. It frankly rivals the lineups you'd see 00:09:22.269 --> 00:09:24.769 in Berlin or Venice. Let's look at the features. 00:09:25.230 --> 00:09:29.129 2004, the inaugural year. Who wins best feature? 00:09:29.649 --> 00:09:32.870 Adam Egoyen for his film Ararat. Wait a minute. 00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:35.259 The same guy who became the president of the 00:09:35.259 --> 00:09:37.480 festival the very next year. I know. I know. 00:09:37.500 --> 00:09:39.120 It looks a little suspicious on paper, but to 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:40.919 be perfectly fair to them, he wasn't president 00:09:40.919 --> 00:09:45.080 yet. True. And Ararat is a deeply seminal film. 00:09:45.159 --> 00:09:48.980 It's this massive, profound exploration of the 00:09:48.980 --> 00:09:52.080 Armenian genocide. So for the very first festival 00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:55.360 in Yerevan. It was really the only logical choice 00:09:55.360 --> 00:09:57.799 to set the tone. Okay, I'll give him a pass on 00:09:57.799 --> 00:10:00.879 that one. But look at 2005. Alexander Sakharov 00:10:00.879 --> 00:10:03.820 wins for The Sun, and Sakharov is an absolute 00:10:03.820 --> 00:10:06.200 titan of Russian cinema. He did Russian Arc, 00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:09.600 right? Yes, the movie shot in a single continuous 00:10:09.600 --> 00:10:13.600 take through the Hermitage. The Sun is his film 00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:16.929 about Emperor Hirohito. This is high art, deeply 00:10:16.929 --> 00:10:20.009 intellectual cinema. And then 2006, Hu Shao -Sien 00:10:20.009 --> 00:10:22.990 wins for three times. He is basically Taiwanese 00:10:22.990 --> 00:10:26.250 royalty in the film world. Exactly. So in just 00:10:26.250 --> 00:10:28.350 the first three years, you have the Armenian 00:10:28.350 --> 00:10:30.669 diaspora, the Russian masters, and the Asian 00:10:30.669 --> 00:10:32.889 avant -garde all represented in winning the top 00:10:32.889 --> 00:10:36.289 prize. That Crossroads motto wasn't just PR talk. 00:10:36.570 --> 00:10:38.470 But the one that really stands out to me, the 00:10:38.470 --> 00:10:40.309 one that proves they almost have a crystal ball 00:10:40.309 --> 00:10:44.590 for talent, is 2011. Asghar Farhadi. Asghar Farhadi 00:10:44.590 --> 00:10:47.269 for A Separation. Now, you follow movies, you 00:10:47.269 --> 00:10:49.190 probably know that film because it went on to 00:10:49.190 --> 00:10:50.990 win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. 00:10:51.090 --> 00:10:53.690 It became this massive global sensation. But 00:10:53.690 --> 00:10:56.230 it won the Golden Apricot first. Exactly. That 00:10:56.230 --> 00:10:58.450 shows this festival has its finger right on the 00:10:58.450 --> 00:11:01.009 pulse. They identified that masterpiece long 00:11:01.009 --> 00:11:03.230 before the Academy Awards did. It completely 00:11:03.230 --> 00:11:05.649 validates their programming. They also seem to 00:11:05.649 --> 00:11:10.009 really lean into very intense, artistically demanding 00:11:10.009 --> 00:11:14.029 films. In 2012, Sergela Znitsa won for In the 00:11:14.029 --> 00:11:17.610 Fog. In 2014, Miroslav Slavoshvitsky for The 00:11:17.610 --> 00:11:21.230 Tribe. And in 2015, Cyril Guerra won for Embrace 00:11:21.230 --> 00:11:23.389 of the Serpent, which is this incredible black 00:11:23.389 --> 00:11:25.169 -and -white psychedelic trip into the Amazon. 00:11:25.309 --> 00:11:27.269 Yeah, these are definitely not popcorn flicks. 00:11:27.309 --> 00:11:29.889 No. And the documentaries they program are just 00:11:29.889 --> 00:11:32.210 as hard -hitting. The sources mention they screened 00:11:32.210 --> 00:11:35.370 Burma VJ in 2009 and five broken cameras in 2012. 00:11:35.919 --> 00:11:37.779 Those are heavy films. They're about political 00:11:37.779 --> 00:11:40.519 resistance, conflict, social justice. It really 00:11:40.519 --> 00:11:43.139 reinforces that idea of the crossroads of civilizations, 00:11:43.220 --> 00:11:45.279 because sometimes that crossroads is actually 00:11:45.279 --> 00:11:48.100 a conflict zone. Now let's talk about the Lifetime 00:11:48.100 --> 00:11:50.480 Achievement Hall of Fame. We mentioned Parajan 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:52.840 Ostellar earlier. The list of people who have 00:11:52.840 --> 00:11:55.059 actually flown all the way to Yerevan to accept 00:11:55.059 --> 00:11:58.179 this award is wild. It is a literal who's who 00:11:58.179 --> 00:12:00.360 of global cinema. I'm looking at this list here. 00:12:00.899 --> 00:12:03.860 Abbas Kiarostami. Wim Wenders. Two of the most 00:12:03.860 --> 00:12:05.720 important directors of the late 20th century. 00:12:05.799 --> 00:12:07.879 I mean, Wim Wenders practically invented the 00:12:07.879 --> 00:12:11.220 modern road movie. Nikita Mikhalkov. Claudia 00:12:11.220 --> 00:12:15.940 Cardinale in 2010. Theo Angelopoulos. Fanny Ardent. 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:21.620 Bella Tarr. And of course, in 2013, Charles Aznavour. 00:12:21.960 --> 00:12:25.940 The singer. The legend. He is a massive cultural 00:12:25.940 --> 00:12:28.919 icon for both France and Armenia. He's often 00:12:28.919 --> 00:12:31.860 called the Frank Sinatra of France. But for Armenians, 00:12:31.860 --> 00:12:33.980 he is even more than that. He's a national hero. 00:12:34.179 --> 00:12:36.519 Wow. Having him attend the festival is like having 00:12:36.519 --> 00:12:39.220 royalty show up. And let's not forget the glamour 00:12:39.220 --> 00:12:42.279 factor, too. Nastasja Kinski and Ornella Muti 00:12:42.279 --> 00:12:45.419 received it in 2015, Jacqueline Vissette in 2016. 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:48.059 It really paints a picture of a festival that, 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:50.659 despite being located in a smaller country, punches 00:12:50.659 --> 00:12:53.139 way, way above its weight class. Absolutely. 00:12:53.419 --> 00:12:56.740 But when you are dealing with art and culture 00:12:56.740 --> 00:12:59.519 in a complex political region, it hasn't been 00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:01.740 without friction. No, it hasn't. And we have 00:13:01.740 --> 00:13:03.360 to address this because the source material goes 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:05.440 into it, and it's important. The Crossroads mission 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:07.799 isn't always smooth sailing. Right. This is where 00:13:07.799 --> 00:13:09.320 we get to the promise we made at the start of 00:13:09.320 --> 00:13:11.480 the deep dive. We aren't just here to list winners 00:13:11.480 --> 00:13:13.740 and praise the event. We need to talk about what 00:13:13.740 --> 00:13:16.970 happened in 2017. 2017 was a very difficult year 00:13:16.970 --> 00:13:19.769 for the festival. It was a moment where that 00:13:19.769 --> 00:13:22.490 core mission of being a diverse platform really 00:13:22.490 --> 00:13:25.009 got tested. So what exactly does the source say 00:13:25.009 --> 00:13:27.830 happened? Well, the organizers canceled a specific 00:13:27.830 --> 00:13:30.909 off -competition program. It was called Armenians 00:13:30.909 --> 00:13:34.629 Internal and External Views. And initially there 00:13:34.629 --> 00:13:36.389 was no official reason given. It just sort of 00:13:36.389 --> 00:13:38.549 disappeared from the schedule. And in the information 00:13:38.549 --> 00:13:41.299 age, you can't just... Delete a program and hope 00:13:41.299 --> 00:13:44.279 nobody notices. Exactly. Activists and social 00:13:44.279 --> 00:13:46.539 media users immediately flagged the removal. 00:13:47.220 --> 00:13:49.919 The claim, and this was widely reported at the 00:13:49.919 --> 00:13:52.259 time, was that the cancellation was due to the 00:13:52.259 --> 00:13:54.820 inclusion of two specific films in that program. 00:13:55.039 --> 00:13:58.019 Which films? One was called Apricot Groves, and 00:13:58.019 --> 00:14:01.080 the other was, listen to me, Untold Stories Beyond 00:14:01.080 --> 00:14:03.620 Hatred. What was the common thread between those 00:14:03.620 --> 00:14:07.309 two? They were both LGBTQ themed films. So immediate 00:14:07.309 --> 00:14:10.269 allegations of censorship. Yes. LGBTQ rights 00:14:10.269 --> 00:14:12.830 organizations, specifically Pink Armenia and 00:14:12.830 --> 00:14:15.649 Galas, criticized the move heavily. They labeled 00:14:15.649 --> 00:14:18.009 it as outright censorship, arguing that the festival 00:14:18.009 --> 00:14:20.049 bowed to pressure to remove queer narratives 00:14:20.049 --> 00:14:22.169 from the screen. And the fallout from this was 00:14:22.169 --> 00:14:24.590 significant, right? This wasn't just a minor 00:14:24.590 --> 00:14:27.889 local dispute. No, it escalated quickly. Internally, 00:14:27.929 --> 00:14:29.889 the people we just established as the pillars 00:14:29.889 --> 00:14:32.809 of the festival spoke out. Adam Egoyan and Arsene 00:14:32.809 --> 00:14:35.340 Kanjian. publicly denounced the cancellation. 00:14:35.679 --> 00:14:38.000 Wow. There was an open letter that circulated, 00:14:38.059 --> 00:14:40.299 signed by numerous filmmakers and politicians. 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:42.379 That is a lot of internal pressure from your 00:14:42.379 --> 00:14:45.539 own honorary chairman. It is. And externally, 00:14:45.799 --> 00:14:49.200 it became an institutional issue. The EU's Eastern 00:14:49.200 --> 00:14:51.779 Partnership Civil Society Forum actually issued 00:14:51.779 --> 00:14:54.129 a statement regarding the incident. What did 00:14:54.129 --> 00:14:56.330 they say? They stated that the cancellation ran 00:14:56.330 --> 00:14:59.070 contrary to the process of Armenia joining the 00:14:59.070 --> 00:15:01.690 Creative Europe program. Okay, that's a really 00:15:01.690 --> 00:15:04.429 big deal. Yeah. That explicitly ties international 00:15:04.429 --> 00:15:07.990 funding and European cooperation. to these programming 00:15:07.990 --> 00:15:10.830 decisions. It does. It perfectly highlights the 00:15:10.830 --> 00:15:13.370 tension that festivals in conservative or transitioning 00:15:13.370 --> 00:15:16.789 societies so often face. On one hand, they want 00:15:16.789 --> 00:15:19.149 the international prestige and the openness of 00:15:19.149 --> 00:15:21.669 a global film festival. But on the other hand, 00:15:21.690 --> 00:15:24.090 local political or social pressures can push 00:15:24.090 --> 00:15:26.750 back hard against certain content. It's a stark 00:15:26.750 --> 00:15:29.409 reminder that a film festival isn't just floating 00:15:29.409 --> 00:15:32.190 in a bubble. It exists within the reality of 00:15:32.190 --> 00:15:35.500 the society that hosts it. We are just reporting 00:15:35.500 --> 00:15:38.059 what the sources outline here, but it's clear 00:15:38.059 --> 00:15:40.919 it was a major flashpoint. Precisely. It forces 00:15:40.919 --> 00:15:43.840 the ultimate question. If your motto is crossroads 00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:47.039 of cultures, do you allow all cultures to cross? 00:15:47.279 --> 00:15:50.259 Or do you put up roadblocks for some? That is 00:15:50.259 --> 00:15:52.480 the real challenge. But looking at the timeline 00:15:52.480 --> 00:15:55.419 we have, the festival didn't collapse after 2017. 00:15:55.820 --> 00:15:58.279 It continued. It did. It survived the controversy 00:15:58.279 --> 00:16:00.679 and continued to operate and evolve. Which brings 00:16:00.679 --> 00:16:03.129 us to the modern era of the festival. We have 00:16:03.129 --> 00:16:05.090 data here on the most recent edition discussed 00:16:05.090 --> 00:16:07.570 in our source material. That's the 22nd edition, 00:16:07.750 --> 00:16:10.509 held in July 2025. Right. And looking at that 00:16:10.509 --> 00:16:13.429 2025 lineup, you can see they are still aiming 00:16:13.429 --> 00:16:15.870 for that very high art international standard. 00:16:16.009 --> 00:16:17.950 They haven't retreated into just playing it safe. 00:16:18.169 --> 00:16:20.309 The opening film was, it was just an accident. 00:16:20.509 --> 00:16:23.110 Directed by Jafar Panahi. And Panahi is another 00:16:23.110 --> 00:16:25.509 name that carries so much weight. For those who 00:16:25.509 --> 00:16:27.629 don't know, he's an Iranian filmmaker who has 00:16:27.629 --> 00:16:30.409 faced imprisonment and actual legal bans on making 00:16:30.409 --> 00:16:33.059 films in his own country. Yet he keeps producing 00:16:33.059 --> 00:16:37.019 absolute masterpieces, often in secret. So opening 00:16:37.019 --> 00:16:38.940 your festival with him sends a very specific 00:16:38.940 --> 00:16:41.820 message. It absolutely does. It signals solidarity 00:16:41.820 --> 00:16:44.740 with artistic freedom. It says to the world, 00:16:44.799 --> 00:16:47.480 we stand with the filmmakers who are being silenced, 00:16:47.539 --> 00:16:49.840 which is a very strong choice, especially given 00:16:49.840 --> 00:16:52.620 the festival's own past history with the censorship 00:16:52.620 --> 00:16:55.639 controversy. And then for the closing film, they 00:16:55.639 --> 00:16:57.980 went with a classic. a film called Last Station 00:16:57.980 --> 00:17:01.740 from 1994, which was directed by Haruchun Kachatryan, 00:17:01.840 --> 00:17:04.779 the festival director, and Nora Armani. It's 00:17:04.779 --> 00:17:07.099 a really nice way to tie the history of the event 00:17:07.099 --> 00:17:09.660 back to its original founders. I also love looking 00:17:09.660 --> 00:17:12.460 at the venues they use for the 2025 edition because 00:17:12.460 --> 00:17:14.839 it really helps visualize the city for us. We've 00:17:14.839 --> 00:17:17.579 got the Moscow Cinema and the Nyeri Cinema. Those 00:17:17.579 --> 00:17:20.039 are the historic movie palaces of Yervon. Just 00:17:20.039 --> 00:17:22.460 beautiful, old school cinema architecture. But 00:17:22.460 --> 00:17:24.460 they also utilize the opera and ballet theater 00:17:24.460 --> 00:17:27.980 and something called Lover's Park. Yes, the Bogotian 00:17:27.980 --> 00:17:30.400 Gardens. Just imagine screening films outdoors 00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:33.210 in a park named Lover's Park. in the middle of 00:17:33.210 --> 00:17:35.930 a warm Yerevan summer. The atmosphere must be 00:17:35.930 --> 00:17:38.410 just incredible. It sounds magical. It turns 00:17:38.410 --> 00:17:41.869 the city itself into a theater. And that is really 00:17:41.869 --> 00:17:44.509 the ultimate goal of a festival like this, to 00:17:44.509 --> 00:17:47.170 engage the public, to make it a civic event, 00:17:47.390 --> 00:17:51.190 not just an industry mixer for the critics. So 00:17:51.190 --> 00:17:53.089 we've covered the origins, the fruit -themed 00:17:53.089 --> 00:17:57.009 awards, the international stars, and the internal 00:17:57.009 --> 00:17:59.369 struggles. When you step back and look at the 00:17:59.369 --> 00:18:01.940 Golden Apricot as a whole, What do you think 00:18:01.940 --> 00:18:04.119 is the big takeaway? I think it's a really unique 00:18:04.119 --> 00:18:06.980 synthesis. You have the Armenian panorama keeping 00:18:06.980 --> 00:18:09.740 the national identity alive, ensuring that local 00:18:09.740 --> 00:18:12.940 Armenian stories are told and funded. But then 00:18:12.940 --> 00:18:14.960 at the exact same time, you have Wim Wenders 00:18:14.960 --> 00:18:18.059 and Jafar Panahi and Asghar Farhadi bringing 00:18:18.059 --> 00:18:20.700 the entire globe to Yerevan. It really does live 00:18:20.700 --> 00:18:23.309 up to that motto. Crossroads of cultures. It 00:18:23.309 --> 00:18:25.230 does. And the thing about a crossroads is that 00:18:25.230 --> 00:18:27.789 it implies traffic. It implies collision. Sometimes 00:18:27.789 --> 00:18:30.109 that collision is beautiful, like a great international 00:18:30.109 --> 00:18:32.970 co -production or a shared artistic idea. And 00:18:32.970 --> 00:18:35.250 sometimes it's messy, like the 2017 controversy. 00:18:35.690 --> 00:18:38.069 But that's exactly what makes it vital. If it 00:18:38.069 --> 00:18:39.710 were easy, it wouldn't be a crossroads. It would 00:18:39.710 --> 00:18:42.410 just be a highway. And highways are boring. That's 00:18:42.410 --> 00:18:44.990 a great way to put it. A crossroads is where 00:18:44.990 --> 00:18:47.609 things actually happen. Exactly. And it forces 00:18:47.609 --> 00:18:49.609 us to ask a much bigger question, one that I 00:18:49.609 --> 00:18:52.460 think you listening should really consider. We 00:18:52.460 --> 00:18:55.220 so often think of film festivals as just entertainment 00:18:55.220 --> 00:18:58.480 events or industry trade shows. Sure, places 00:18:58.480 --> 00:19:01.519 to sell movies. Right. But for a smaller nation 00:19:01.519 --> 00:19:05.359 like Armenia, is a festival like the Golden Apricot 00:19:05.359 --> 00:19:08.559 actually a diplomatic engine? Oh, that's interesting. 00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:11.829 Like an exercise in soft power. Think about it. 00:19:11.890 --> 00:19:14.849 It actively forces the country to engage with 00:19:14.849 --> 00:19:17.750 global standards of free expression. It brings 00:19:17.750 --> 00:19:20.450 in foreign dignitaries, journalists and artists 00:19:20.450 --> 00:19:23.529 who might never have visited otherwise. It puts 00:19:23.529 --> 00:19:26.109 the country squarely on the cultural map. That's 00:19:26.109 --> 00:19:28.529 very true. So you have to wonder, does a well 00:19:28.529 --> 00:19:31.490 -run film festival do more for a country's global 00:19:31.490 --> 00:19:34.029 standing than a traditional diplomatic summit? 00:19:34.289 --> 00:19:36.329 It's the difference between politics and culture. 00:19:37.029 --> 00:19:39.650 Politics draws the lines on a map, but culture 00:19:39.650 --> 00:19:42.230 is what actually crosses them. Precisely. That 00:19:42.230 --> 00:19:44.730 is a fascinating thought. Are the movies just 00:19:44.730 --> 00:19:46.569 the vehicle for something much, much bigger? 00:19:47.069 --> 00:19:49.410 We will leave you with that to mull over. And 00:19:49.410 --> 00:19:52.009 maybe go find a short film to watch today. Find 00:19:52.009 --> 00:19:55.349 your own golden stone. Exactly. Thanks for diving 00:19:55.349 --> 00:19:56.809 in with us. We'll see you on the next one.