Armenia Hosts Its First Youth Film Festival

Internews presented a special incentive prize to two young Armenian filmmakers, Artak Margaryan and Susan Simonyan, during the first youth film festival in Armenia.

The special prize – a certificate and 200 US dollars – was presented by Internews Programs Manager David Matevossian for camera work and sound design in the documentary, “Noradus,” a film that highlights the history and present concerns of an Armenian village near Lake Sevan, one of the largest high altitude lakes in the world.

More than 160 films were featured at the “It’s Me” Film Festival in Yerevan held April 25 through May 2 and organized by the Cinematographers’ Union of Armenia and the Institute of Cinema and Theatre. The festival brought together young filmmakers from Armenia, Russia, Syria, Iran, Canada and France.

The grand prize went to Yevgenya Shekoyan for her film “There I saw the World,” which was distributed to Armenian TV stations by Internews under the Open Skies project, “Films of Crisis Times.” A film produced during an Internews training project about a children’s development center was among the finalists and was screened at the festival.