Festival 2025

Having lost everything, the heroes find a new home in one of the desolate northern villages of Armenia. Here they begin to cultivate the land, have a child, and create a new life in the difficult conditions of the early 1990s. On the occasion of Harutyun Khachatryan's 70th anniversary, "Apricot Tree" pays tribute to the director by opening with one of his best films.

Harutyun Khachatryan

Born in 1955. He has been making his own films since 1985. He is the Founding Director of the Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival and, since 2017, the President of the Union of Cinematographers of Armenia.

In the eyes of artificial intelligence, the last thirty years of David Rumsey's life, dedicated to creating one of the world's largest collections of historical maps, seem like an incomprehensible puzzle. The film follows him on a journey where Rumsey confronts the ghosts of his past.

Andrea Gatopoulos

Italian film producer, director, and distributor. Founder of Il Varco. His first feature film, "A Stranger Quest", premiered at the 41st Torino Film Festival.

In 2020, Lisbon's largest sports center is transformed into a shelter for the homeless. A self-organized community is formed, restoring a culture of care and mutual aid.

Zsófia Paczolay & Dorian Rivière

Zsófia is a freelance artist. Dorian is a French director based in Brussels.

The film explores the world of Marcello, a young man fascinated by lights, who strives to create a workshop to build traditional Italian "luminarie" lighting systems.

Filippo Tolentino

Italian director and cinematographer. "Lumi" is his first feature-length work.

Native American Al Moon embarks on a journey to reunite with his Vietnam War comrades, confronting his past and modern America.

Isabelle Ingold & Vivianne Perelmuter

Editors and filmmakers who teach at the University of Corsica.

Jialai Wang returns to Shanghai to be with her mother after her grandmother's death. The film reveals complex mother-daughter relationships and past wounds.

Jialai Wang

Born in 1990, studied film in Brussels. Her short films have won several awards.

"Partition" combines archival footage of the British occupation of Palestine with recordings of refugees, mapping the traces of displacement.

Diana Allan

Filmmaker and Professor of Anthropology at McGill University. Co-founder of the "Nakba Archive".

In Boca Chica, Texas, nature and homes are sacrificed for the new SpaceX launch site. The film questions the cost of the space race.

Julien Elie

Canadian documentary filmmaker. His previous films focused on violence in Mexico.

A documentary composed entirely of archival footage, creating a collective portrait of 20th-century Europe through the lens of trains and stations.

Maciej Drygas

Renowned film and radio director, producer. European Film Academy award winner.

Nika is a young girl from a Yamal nomadic family who must leave home for boarding school. A nomadic teacher prepares her for this journey.

Ivan Vlasov & Nikita Stashkevich

Ivan Vlasov born and raised in Tula. Studied at VGIK in the workshop of S.V. Miroshnichenko. Tries to find a form that would help reveal Russian culture in a new way.

Nikita Stashkevich is from St. Petersburg. Since 2017, he has studied at the St. Petersburg State Institute of Cinema and Television. From 2018 to 2023, he studied at VGIK, in the workshop of S.V. Miroshnichenko.

Years after the tragic death of two young men from Montescheno, their memory still echoes in the mountains. The film explores grief and confronting the mountains.

Davide Casarotti

Documentary filmmaker. This is his first feature film.

A poetic contrast between human and avian life against the backdrop of Roman rooftops.

Carla Vestroni

Carla Vestroni ran courses on Italian cinema for specialised Italian schools and for American students at the Gonzaga University in Florence and British Council in Bologna. She contributed with articles and essays to the cinema magazine Cinema Sessanta.

The director tries to understand his complex relationship with his father, who has adopted an extreme organic lifestyle.

Paul Abraham

Indian filmmaker working in Qatar.

A musical film work about generational trauma and the traces of the Armenian Genocide.

Katinka Fogh Vindelev & Louise Gorm

Danish musicians and performers.

Hoda, a Coptic Christian, cares for orphan Mariam, but their bond is tested when Mariam wants to get married.

Rabelle Erian

Filmmaker and producer born in Cairo.

A journey towards recognizing the longing for a father and Syria, confronting loss.

Nour Alkheder

Director Nour Alkheder approaches subjects intimately and emotionally; she creates an open atmosphere. Her authentic work explores deep human emotions and shows people at their most honest.

The film reconstructs the story of the murder of poet Hamid Hajizadeh and his son.

Sahand Sarhaddi

Filmmaker and visual artist.

A woman from Beirut explores the outskirts of her city, following a wildflower.

Farah F. Naboulsi

Lebanese artist.

A social portrait addressing the knife as a tool of sacrifice and violence.

Marwen Trabelsi

Tunisian photographer and director.

Online chatbots share their thoughts with humans, trying to find their place in the world.

Inès Sieulle

French artist and filmmaker.

This hybrid film takes us on a journey into a world without men, and further into the underworld, intersecting the present with eternity.

Sara Jurinčić

French artist and filmmaker.

A journey along the new border in Eastern Armenia turns into a voyage through the human inner world. People share stories about how the border affects their lives.

Knutte Wester

Swedish artist and director.

A portrait of Armenian painter Eduard Kharazyan.

Mesrop Movsesyan

Armenian journalist and documentarian.

The film unfolds in a world where every natural element has its own spirit.

Arman Ayvazyan

Armenian documentary filmmaker.

The film unveils the extraordinary journey of a medieval Armenian manuscript—from the 12th century Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia on the Mediterranean to modern-day Poland.

Vahram Mkhitaryan

Director, screenwriter, videographer, photographer, producer born in Yerevan in 1977. In 2001, he graduated from the Armenian State Pedagogical University, Faculty of Culture, specializing in feature film directing.

The film tells the story of the director, who at the age of 30 still lives with his parents.

Mehdi Bagheri

Iranian documentary filmmaker.

"To Be a Village" is an attempt to restore the polyphony of the villages of the Southern Apennines.

Marta Violante, Silvia Miola, Danny Biancardi

The film's three directors are members of La Bandita, a cultural association founded in Palermo by a group of documentary filmmakers. It believes in the value of collective work, produces non-fiction films and develops participatory filmmaking workshops.

The film is a documentary portrait of the renowned Armenian jazz musician Martin Vardazaryan.

Vahagn Ter-Hakobyan

Vahagn Ter-Hakobyan is an Armenian cinematographer and laureate of the State Prize of Armenia. He began his career in film in 1977 and graduated from the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (VGIK), Moscow.