GAIFF Pro, the industry platform of the Golden Apricot International Film Festival, has wrapped its latest edition which ran from 11-15 July and handed out its awards. The closing event took place on the AGBU Point of View rooftop where local and international professionals attended and GAIFF Pro Project Manager Sona Karapoghosyan announced the winners in each section.

Four projects participated in the Works-in-Progress section, where the jury consisted of director and producer Galina Stepanova; member of the selection committee at Visions du Réel, Emmanuel Chicon; and co-founder, artistic adviser of Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival, Susanna Harutyunyan. They picked the documentary 1489 [+lire aussi :
critique
fiche film] directed by Armenian filmmaker Shoghakat Vardanyan as the recipient of the Grand Prix, which is accompanied by US$5,000. The film focuses on the disappearance of the director’s brother, who was a soldier during the latest escalation of the unresolved conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region in 2020.

At the co-production market of GAIFF Pro, the section included 12 projects hailing from the Lesser Caucasus region and from Western Asia countries. The jury, featuring film and festival consultant Ludmila Cvikova; filmmaker Chadi Zen; and producer Keith Potter, picked the documentary project The Stone, directed by Georgian filmmaker Mariam Khatchvani, as the winner of the Grand Prix that comes with a cash prize of US$3,000. The film is about a conflict between the director's 95-year-old grandma and her neighbour, an 85-year-old woman, about a sacred stone. The jury also bestowed a Special Mention, accompanied by US$2,000, to the animated film Zako by local filmmaker Tigran Arakelyan. The film follows the story of Soviet Armenian painter Sargis Mangasaryan, who used his skills, drawing portraits of his captors, to survive a Nazi POW Camp.

Finally, the teams behind ten Armenian projects had the chance to participate in a project presentation and pitching workshop led by Chinese-Dutch film producer Jia Zhao. The winners of that section were picked by Anastasia Kirilova, Norayr Kasper, and Jia Zhao. The Grand Prix, which invites the project to the Sundance Film Festival, went to My Heart is Like Those Ruined Houses, written and directed by debutant Ovsanna Gevorgyan. The Special Mention of the section, which offers a trip to the next Berlinale, went to Flying Cows, the new project by directorial duo Vahagn Khachatryan and Aren Malakyan (5 Dreamers and a Horse [+lire aussi :
critique
interview : Vahagn Khachatryan et Aren…
fiche film]).

Here are the winners of the 2022 GAIFF Pro:

Works-in-Progress

Grand Prix
1489 [+lire aussi :
critique
fiche film] - Shoghakat Vardanyan (Armenia)

Project Market

Grand Prix
The Stone - Mariam Khatchvani (Georgia)

Special Mention
Zako - Tigran Arakelyan (Armenia)

Armenian Pitching

Grand Prix
My Heart is Like Those Ruined Houses - Ovsanna Gevorgyan (Armenia)

Special Mention
Flying Cows - Vahagn Khachatryan, Aren Malakyan (Armenia)