Distinguished Films and Winners 2004

Opening Night Screening 2004

In conjunction with this year’s honorees, Arpa presented a revival of Robert Papazian’s 1973 film Coffy (91m), starring Pam Grier and Booker Bradshaw. Plot: “Coffy” (Pam Griers in her first leading role), a dedicated nurse who is fed up with the narcotics that have infiltrated the inner city. When her eleven-year-old sister is hospitalized after shooting some contaminated heroin, “Coffy” hits the streets with a loaded shotgun, determined to stop the drug trade once and for all.

Nominees and Winners – Feature Films and Short Films

Baptists at Our Barbecue 89m (USA)
Christian Vuissa (D/W/P); R.F. Smith, F.M. Smith (W/P)
NOMINATED: BEST SCREENPLAY
WINNER: BEST FEATURE FILM, BEST DIRECTOR

Every-man 74m (USA)
Andrew Gori (D/W/P)
NOMINATED: BEST FEATURE FILM, BEST DIRECTOR, BEST SCREENPLAY

The Fifth Reaction (Vakonesh-e-Panjom) 107m (Iran)
Tahmineh Milani (D/W); Mohammad Nikbin (P)
NOMINATED: BEST DIRECTOR, BEST FEATURE FILM, BEST SCREENPLAY
WINNER: BEST SCREENPLAY

White Dream 90m (USA)
Hamid Jebelli (D/W); Majid Modarresi (P)
NOMINATED: BEST FEATURE FILM, BEST DIRECTOR, BEST SCREENPLAY

Color Blind 15m (USA)
Shervin Youssefian (D/W/P); Daniel Simonzad (D/W/P)
NOMINATED: BEST SHORT FILM

Dance With Me 15m (USA)
Devon Chivvis (D/W); J. Mark Fowler (P); Alania White (P)
NOMINATED: BEST SHORT FILM

Fault 8m (USA)
Justin Swibel (D/W); Brian Swibel (W); Jane Renaud (W/P); Matthew Griffin (P)
NOMINATED: BEST SHORT FILM

Maree (Tides) 14m (Italy/USA)
James Pellerito (D/W/P); Jeniffer Pellerito (P); David Barba (P)
WINNER: BEST SHORT FILM

Serious Fitness 26m (Russia)
Alexander Maryagin (D/P); Pavel Sanayev (W); Natalia Tsapurova (P)
NOMINATED: BEST SHORT FILM

What Grown-Ups Know 30m (Australia/USA)
Jonathan Wald (D/W/P)
NOMINATED: BEST SHORT FILM

Nominees and the Winner – Animation Films

The Balloon 8m, 35s (USA / Spain)
Satinder Singh (D/W/P); Isabel Herguera (P)
NOMINATED: BEST ANIMATION FILM

Bid’Em In 2m (USA)
Neal Sopata (D/W/P); Oscar Brown Jr. (P)
WINNER: BEST FEATURE FILM

Elegy 2m, 33s (USA)
Nadine Takvorian (D/W/P)
NOMINATED: BEST ANIMATION FILM

Nominees and the Winner – Documentary Films

Burying the Past – Legacy of the Mountain Meadows Massacre 86m (USA)
Brian Patrick (D/W/P)
NOMINATED: BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM

The Maharajah of Jodhpur 90m (India)
Anu Malhorta (D/W); Iqbal Malhorta (P)
NOMINATED: BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM

Matta: The Eye of a Surrealist 61m (USA)
Brian Patrick (D/W/P)
WINNER: BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM

Parajanov: The Last Spring 59m (Armenia/USA)
Michail Vartanov (D/W/P); Sergei Parajanov (W); Boris Pasternak (W)
NOMINATED: BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM

Xai Xai: Voice of Our Ancestors 28m (Botswana/USA)
Paige De Ponte (D/W/P)
NOMINATED: BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM

Armin T. Wegner Humanitarian Award 2004

Armenia: The Betrayed 42m (UK)
James Miller (D/P); Fergal Keane Repoter)
WINNER: ARMIN T. WEGNER AWARD

Lifetime Achievement Honorees 2004

Long time colleagues writer-producer James Hirsch and producer Robert Papazian were the recipients of the 2004 Lifetime Achievement Award. They won countless awards, including many nominations as well as the coveted Emmy itself. During their impressive and prolific collective television careers, Robert Papazian and James Hirsch have produced or written more than 100 television movies, mini-series, and series, including the Jason Robards vehicle The Day After, which garnered 14 Emmy nominations and was the highest rated network event in TV history; The China Lake Murders (starring Tom Skerritt), the highest rated USA Cable movie; the Emmy Award winning Inherit the Wind, The Rape of Richard Beck and the top rated North and South: Book II mini-series for ABC. Photo: The honorees during an interview by Jill Simonian for W. E. Connections, a local entertainment TV program.