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| PRESS RELEASES | 2006 FESTIVAL PRESS | PAST FESTIVALS | |
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The San Francisco Armenian Film Festival SAN FRANCISCO - After an unprecedented weekend of sold out screenings in 2004, the Armenian Film Festival returns with twenty-four feature-length and short films from around the globe by and about Armenians. Screenings will take place Friday, Saturday and Sunday, February 17, 18 and 19, 2006 at the intimate 150-seat Delancey Street Theater in San Francisco. Each screening is designed as a two-hour program, including post-screening conversation with filmmakers, when present. Panel discussions, TBA. Building on the successes of the 2004 festival, the same curatorial team has selected films ranging from narrative to experimental, documentary to fiction by filmmakers in Armenia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas. The program highlights a diverse line up of contemporary pieces that reveal a surprising breadth of approaches and issues. Reaching beyond geographical boundaries and conventional definitions of identity, the films tackle universal themes of displacement, ritual and recognition. Among them is Garden Dwelling by award-winning filmmaker Tina Bastajian, described as "A graceful, nuanced treatment" - CinemaEast Series, New York; this oblique travel diary recounts four Armenians' visit to Eastern Turkey. Don Bernier's In a Nutshell: A Portrait of Elizabeth Tashjian, winner of the Crystal Heart award for best documentary feature at the Heartland Film Festival, highlights the life of Elizabeth Tashjian, the curator of the Nut Museum. The Armenian Film Festival is proud to collaborate with Armenia's HyeFilm in presenting Rouben Kochar's latest feature, Arahed, a classic story of immigration set in Armenia and Los Angeles. Muron by Nigol Bezjian, awarded Best Director at the Beirut International Film Festival, depicts the forty-day ritual of making the Baptismal Oil. Another noteworthy director, Christine Khalafian, is the founder of the Milwaukee Underground Film Festival. Her work has been shown at the Sundance Film Festival and the Centre George Pompidou in Paris. Aiming to support and encourage local filmmakers, the Armenian Film Festival is pleased to present the works of two San Francisco State University graduates: Ara Ebrahimian's Pick Me Up and Hagop Kaneboughazian's animated short, Ara's Flight. Fiscally sponsored by Golden Thread Productions, the Armenian Film Festival is co-presented by the Film Arts Foundation, the San Francisco Cinematheque, the Arab Film Festival and the Goethe Institute. Curatorial Team |
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for more information contact: email: info@armenianfilmfestival.org tel: 510.547.5399 fax: 415.626.1138 |