Honoring People Making a Difference
This year, Arpa International Film Festival will present the following three special awards during their Awards Ceremony on November 15:
Esai Morales has enjoyed an exceptional acting career, with a diverse body of work on stage, television, and in film that spans over three decades. His acting career began at the Ensemble Theatre Studio in New York City when he appeared in the play, EL HERMANO. His feature film debut was in Bad Boys. Four years later, he became a star playing Bob Morales in the Latio-themed rock biopic, La Bamba. Fast forward thirty years and Morales has amassed an impressive acting dossier.
As an activist, Morales is known for his advocacy work on education and the environment. Furthermore, in 1997, Morales co-founded the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts (NHFA). His foundation focus on advancing the presence of Latinos in the media, telecommunications and entertainment industries. The NHFA has provided scholarships to hundreds of Hispanic students in excess of 1 million dollars.
The Arpa International Film Festival is founded by AFFMA (Arpa Foundation for Film, Music, and Art). This year AFFMA selected Essai Morales as the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, because of his significant impact as an actor and for being an exemplary role model and a change agent. His ideals align with the Foundation.
Armin Theophil Wegner was an intellectual, doctor in law, photographer, writer, poet, civil rights defender and eyewitness to the Armenian Genocide. In 2003, through the efforts of the Armin T. Wegner Society of USA, the Armin T. Wegner Award was created by AFFMA. The humanitarian award goes to a motion picture that contributes to the fight for social conscience and human rights, a struggle to which Armin T. Wegner devoted his life.
This year AFFMA’s executive committee selected the Anatolian fairytale, Lost Birds, created by two filmmakers Ela Alyamac and Aren Perdeci, whose joint vision to portray the truth and courage to realize it on the big screen is an immense accomplishment. The film, Lost Birds, is the turning point in Turkish cinema — a film shot in Turkey, set in 1915 about the Armenian exile, that received minimal financial government support, but inherited significant Turkish cinema industry opposition, making it difficult for entrance into international festivals and for awards consideration.
Ela Alyamac is a Turkish filmmaker, and has directed feature films and short films. Aren Perdeci is of Armenian descent, and is a director, scriptwriter, producer, cinematographer, and editor. He has directed a feature film, short films, and a variety of other media projects.
Lost Birds is a beautiful story of a brother and a sister who are left behind during the 1915 Armenian exile in Anatolia. The two siblings return from their secret dovecote only to find an empty house and a ghost village. The children, along with their bird, embark on a journey in search of their mother.
David Dastmalchian has quickly become one of the most critically acclaimed actors in the industry today, and is showing no signs of slowing down. He played opposite Paul Rudd in Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man. He continues to make his mark in the independent world with his feature film screenwriting debut, Animals. This film took SXSW Film Festival in 2014 by storm, winning the Special Jury Prize for Courage in Storytelling amid rave reviews. Animals went on to celebrate its theatrical release in 2015. Dastmalchian, who starred in, wrote, and produced the film received critical acclaim from top national outlets including Time Magazine, Slant Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, and more. He also won “Best Actor” at the New York Independent Film Festival in 2014.
Dastmalchian made his feature film debut in the Academy Award winning feature, The Dark Knight, directed by Christopher Nolan. Additional accolades include: Best Actor at Best of the Midwest Independent Film Awards and Best Film at Best of the Midwest Independent Film Awards (both for Animals); Audience Choice, Chicago Film Critics Association (Animals); and Programmers Choice, Virginia Film Festival (Animals).
On the charity front, Dastmalchian volunteers regularly with the Born to Act players, a 20-year-old theatre troupe comprised of developmentally disabled adults who have a passion and talent in acting. He currently lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife, son, dog, and a very dramatic cat.
Written by Sharon Swainson
Communications & Content Development
2015 Arpa International Film Festival