# 5th Yerevan Golden Apricot International Film Festival

The 5th Yerevan Golden Apricot International Film Festival was a film festival held in Yerevan, Armenia from 13–20 July 2008. The festival had more than 450 submissions from 67 countries; viewers had an opportunity to see over 160 films. Among the honorable guests of the festival were Wim Wenders, Enrica Antonioni, Goran Paskaljevic, Dariush Mehrjui, Catherine Breillat, and others. A Special Tribute was paid to Michelangelo Antonioni by honoring him with a posthumous Parajanov’s Thaler. Additionally, Wim Wenders and Dariush Mehrjui were honored with Parajanov’s Thaler Lifetime Achievement Awards. The main prizewinners of the 5th Golden Apricot were Anna Melikian from Russia for her film The Mermaid (Golden Apricot 2008 for the Best Feature Film), Meira Asher from Israel for the film Women See Lot of Things (Golden Apricot 2008 for the Best Documentary Film), and Eric Nazarian from the USA for The Blue Hour (Golden Apricot 2008 for the Best Film in the “Armenian Panorama”). The FIPRESCI Award went to Huseyn Karabey with his film My Marlon and Brando and the Ecumenical Award to Eric Nazarian with his film The Blue Hour.

## About the Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival

The Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival (GAIFF) (Armenian: «Ոսկե Ծիրան» Երևանի միջազգային կինոփառատոն) is an annual film festival held in Yerevan, Armenia. The festival was founded in 2004 with the co-operation of the “Golden Apricot” Fund for Cinema Development, the Armenian Association of Film Critics and Cinema Journalists. The GAIFF is continually supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the RA, the Ministry of Culture of the RA and the Benevolent Fund for Cultural Development.The objectives of the festival are "to present new works by the film directors and producers in Armenia and foreign cinematographers of Armenian descent and to promote creativity and originality in the area of cinema and video art".

## Awards GAIFF 2008

| Category | Award | Film | Director | Country |
| International Feature Competition | Golden Apricot for Best Feature Film | Mermaid | Anna Melikyan | Russia |
| International Feature Competition | Silver Apricot Special Prize for Feature Film | Lemon Tree | Eran Riklis | Israel, France, Germany |
| International Feature Competition | Silver Apricot Special Prize for Feature Film | Wonderful Town | Aditya Assarat | Thailand |
| International Feature Competition | Jury Diploma | End of the Earth | Abolfazl Saffary | Iran |
| International Documentary Competition | Golden Apricot for Best Documentary Film | Women See Lot of Things | Meira Asher | Netherlands |
| International Documentary Competition | Silver Apricot Special Prize for Documentary Film | Lakshmi and Me | Nishtha Jain | India, United States, Finland, Denmark |
| Armenian Panorama Competition | Golden Apricot for Best Armenian Film | The Blue Hour | Eric Nazarian | United States |
| Armenian Panorama Competition | Silver Apricot Special Prize for Armenian Film | Gata | Diana Mkrtchyan | Russia |
| Armenian Panorama Competition | Jury Diploma | Jrarat, Miniatures | Mariam Ohanyan | Armenia |
| Parajanov’s Thaler – Tribute to | Parajanov’s Thaler – Tribute to | Parajanov’s Thaler – Tribute to | Michelangelo Antonioni | Italy |
| Parajanov’s Thaler – Lifetime Achievement Award | Parajanov’s Thaler – Lifetime Achievement Award | Parajanov’s Thaler – Lifetime Achievement Award | Wim Wenders | Germany |
| Parajanov’s Thaler – Lifetime Achievement Award | Parajanov’s Thaler – Lifetime Achievement Award | Parajanov’s Thaler – Lifetime Achievement Award | Dariush Mehrjui | Iran |
| Special Silver Apricot – Pour l’Audance Artistique et Humaine | Special Silver Apricot – Pour l’Audance Artistique et Humaine | Special Silver Apricot – Pour l’Audance Artistique et Humaine | Catherine Breillat | France |
| FIPRESCI Award | FIPRESCI Award | My Marlon and Brando | Huseyin Karabey | Turkey |
| Ecumenical Jury Award | Ecumenical Jury Award | The Blue Hour | Eric Nazarian | United States |
| Jury Diploma | Jury Diploma | My Marlon and Brando | Huseyin Karabey | Turkey |