Press Announcement

July 6, 2018

                                                                        Contact Information:

                                                                        Sona Karapoghosyan, Project Manager

   +37491 328118; [email protected]

Yerevan, Armenia – on July 10, 2018, at 11:00, a Workshop of the Armenia-Turkey Cinema Platform (ATCP) will open at AGBU Armenia, 2/2 Melik-Adamyan Street. 

 

Opening remarks and welcome will be delivered by: 

 

• E. Mr. Piotr Antoni Świtalski, Head of the European Union Delegation to the Republic of Armenia
• Çiğdem Mater, Film Producer and ATCP Manager (Turkey)
• Susanna Harutyunyan, Director of GAIFF

The Workshop Opening will last for 30 minutes, and it will be open for press. Consecutive English-Armenian-English translation will be provided during the opening session. 

Anadolu Kültür and Golden Apricot Fund for Cinema Development established the ATCP in 2009 to serve as the first cultural network between Armenia and Turkey. ATCP is a co-production and communication initiative that aims at developing close cooperation and links between the two societies through supporting and promoting films and filmmakers from Armenia, Turkey and the Diaspora.

Every year, ATCP conducts two workshops with participation of about 20 filmmakers from Turkey, Armenia, and the Diaspora per workshop: one in Istanbul in April, during the International Istanbul Film Festival, and one in Yerevan in July, during the Golden Apricot International Film Festival. In the course of the three-day workshops, the participants pitch their film projects to an international jury and explore co-production opportunities. The workshops also provide a venue for the demonstration of the ATCP-supported films.

This year, the Workshop in Yerevan will be conducted on July 10-12, 2018. For the participation in the Workshop, the international jury selected eight applications out of the total 20: 

• ON HER OWN (Armenia/Turkey)
• AZNIF'S STORY (Armenia/Turkey)
• ARMENIAN SHAKESPEARE (Armenia)
• HI NEIGHBOUR (Turkey)
• ELIZABETH "IT'S TRAGIC TO DIE WITHOUT MY FILL OF YOU (Turkey)
• SPECIAL OFFER (Armenia)
• SWANS (Turkey)
• COIN TOSS (Turkey)

The winning project will receive an award of €7,000. 

The international jury consists of the following seven members: 

• Albert Wiederspiel, Director of Hamburg IFF (Germany)
• Melek Ulagay Taylan, Documentary Filmmaker (Turkey)
• Diloy Gulun, Film Producer (Turkey)
• Çiğdem Mater, Film Producer and ATCP Manager (Turkey)
• Susanna Harutyunyan, Director of GAIFF (Armenia)
• Arsinée Khanjian, Actress and Producer (Canada)
• Vrej Kassouny, Funder and Director of ReAnimania International Animation & Comics Art Festival of Yerevan (Armenia)

Since the inception of ATCP, the platform has brought to life 24 documentary and short film projects, and facilitated around 300 inter-state exchange visits. ATCP also produced and distributed the first Armenian-Turkish Cinema Almanac. Many of the ATCP-supported films were screened in different international film festivals and cultural centers, attracting broad audiences from around the world. Today, ATCP is a full-fledged network with more than 270 participants from Armenia, Turkey, and the Diaspora.

This activity takes place within the framework of the “Support to the Armenia-Turkey Normalization Process” programme, funded by the European Union and the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs.