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Golden Apricot 7th Yerevan International Film Festival got underway July 11. “Mayrig” (Mother) by Henry Verneuil marked the opening of the festival.

Traditional apricot-blessing ceremony took place in St. Zoravor Church on Sunday, prior to the official opening ceremony of the festival. The stars of Hamo Beknazaryan, Ruben Mamulyan, Sergey Parajanov and Henry Verneuil were opened on the Star Alley in front of Moscow Cinema with participation of Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, Culture Minister Hasmik Poghosyan, Yerevan Mayor Gagik Beglaryan and the world-famous Italian movie star Claudia Cardinale.

Culture Minister Hasmik Poghosyan granted the famous actress a gold medal of Culture Ministry at the official opening ceremony.

120 films have been chosen among the received 500 from 75 countries worldwide, including Jordan, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Costa Rica, etc. 3 competition programs are presented in the festival: international competition, documentary, Armenian panorama. 5 juries – Feature jury, Documentary jury, Armenian Panorama jury, FIPRESCI Jury and Ecumenical Jury - decide on which film will win.

This year, in the sidelines of the festivel, tribute will be paid to the Armenian outstanding director Henrik Malyan – 85, actors Mher Mkrtchyan – 80, and Khoren Abrahamyan – 80, operator Albert Yavuryan – 75, remarkable French-Armenian film director Henry Verneuil – 80. Jubilee programs also include Armen Jigarkhanyan – 75, and Atom Egoyan – 50.

For the first time this year during the seven days of the festival, Armenian jazz bands will perform open-air concerts.

Golden Apricot 7th Yerevan International Film Festival is due by July 18th.