Arpa International Film Festival Announces 2016 Awards Nominees

The Official 2016 award nominees for the 19th Annual Arpa International Film Festival (AIFF) have been selected. Let the anxious anticipation begin as filmmakers, directors and screenplay writers for nine feature films vie for best film, best director and best screenplay; and eight best documentary films, 14 short films, and four animated shorts will all await the winning award announcement at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.

For the filmmaker having their film screened is a major accomplishment in itself, and The joy of discovering that their film is nominated elevates their excitement. Among this years’ 2016 AIFF nominees, one film is a world premiere, 12 films are USA premieres and three additional films are Los Angeles premieres. Michael Ashjian, AIFF Executive Director, conveyed, “Our nominees this year represent some of the best of what independent filmmaking has to offer from around the world. The strength of the festival is often measured by the number of premiere films they have in their program, and we’re proud to be hosting many first time screenings. Every year, the quality of our films increase and the topics they address are always so profound.”

AIFF awards span six categories: Best Feature Film, Best Documentary Film, Best Short Film, Best Animated Short Film, Best Director, and Best Screenplay.

Opening night, November 3, is the World Premiere of Bravo, Virtuoso! a dramatic film that is up for Best Feature, Best Director and Best Screenplay. Produced by acclaimed French-Armenian director-producer-writer Robert Guédiguian and Armenian director Lévon Minasian, Bravo Virtuoso! takes you in to post-Soviet Armenia where cultural institutions are failing and oligarchs are allied with the mafia which holds the power. Told though the life of a virtuoso clarinetist Alik, who wants to save his orchestra, is thrown into the depths of love and grapples with the twisted fate of being intwined with the mafia.

Friday night’s U.S. premiere of Hot Country, Cold Winter is a triple threat with it Best Feature, Best Director and Best Screenplay nominations. The film warms your heart submerging you into the depths of how people grapple with their arduous lifestyle. Director-producer, David Safarian has his characters “dealing with the absurdity of hard times.” The film, produced by Studio DS (Safarian’s company he founded with two others in 2002), tells a tale of a man and a woman suffering the circumstances of a total energy crisis. Their recollections, short narratives, imagination act as aids in understanding of the story, and in understanding that core human values are shared throughout the world.

Another 2016 AIFF triple nominee is Saturday’s centerpiece feature film and U.S. premiere Somewhere Beautiful, directed by Albert Kodogolian, featuring Argentinian stars Maria Alche (The Holy Girl) and Pablo Cedron (The Aura, Aballay), and renowned French film actor Dominique Pinon (Amelie, Delicatessen). This film puts you in the middle of two emotionally charged love triangles as they collide in scenic California and amid breathtaking views in Patagonia. Inspired by Atom Egoyan’s seminal film Calendar, Somewhere Beautiful explores the space between the twilight of one connection and the dawn of another.

On Sunday at noon, K2 and The Invisible Footmen starts the day. Director-producer Iara Lee shows the lives of indigenous porters of Gilgit/Baltistan in Pakistan, the unacknowledged heroes of mountaineering, who make the ascent of K2 possible. This AIFF Best Documentary Film nominee shows the courage and sacrifices the porters make and how it affects their families.

Sunday night, the final film and a Best Short Film nominee, Born With It, will be the prelude to the much anticipated Awards Ceremony. Director-writer-producer Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr. created a beautiful dramatic short with a Japanese-Ghanaian boy, bullied for his skin color, sets out to confront the prejudice at his school.