Pomegranate film fest to be held in Toronto Dec. 1-4

PanARMENIAN.Net - The 6th annual Pomegranate Film Festival presented by Hamazkayin will be held on the December 1-4, showcasing a wide selection of films, including thought-provoking documentaries, shorts and feature-length films.

The jury will include: Silva Basmajian, Norayr Kaspar, and Arsinee Khanjian. Basmajian is currently the Executive Producer for the National Film Board of Canada, and has successfully overseen the production of numerous innovative films. Kaspar is an award-winning cinematographer, who has traveled across the globe capturing scenic locales. The captivating actress and producer, Arsinee Khanjian, comes to POM VI as a seasoned jury member, having previously served as part of Armenia’s Golden Apricot Festival among others.

Feature film highlights of POM VI include the much anticipated Snows of Kilimanjaro directed by French-Armenian director, Robert Guediguian, to be screened on Friday December 2 at 7 pm at the Regent Theatre. This newest Guediguian film was screened at Cannes and as part of the Master’s series at TIFF ’11, with three sold-out screenings, and promises to live up to his last movie, Army of Crime, presented at last year’s POM V Gala. Filmed in Marseilles, the story follows a middle-aged couple, Michel and Mari-Claire. Michel, a recently retired dockworker, plans on traveling with his wife to Africa, but the couple is robbed of their cash and plane tickets before their departure. Michel soon discovers that one of the robbers is a former colleague who was laid-off and has a young family to support. This unexpected discovery deeply challenges the couple’s value system, taking the audience along on a thought-provoking discussion of class and cross-generational struggles in modern-day society.

December 3 will screen the feature, Sunrise over Lake Van as its Gala film at 8pm at the Hamazkayin Theatre at the Armenian Youth Centre. Directed by Artak Igityan and Vahan Stepanyan, it focuses on 3 generations of men grappling with their Armenian identity and family life in modern America. Garapet, the grandfather, burns the Turkish flag in front of the Turkish embassy every year on April 24 as a way to deal with his traumatic memory of the Genocide on his family. He finds himself at odds with his son and grandson, the latter who romantically pursues a young girl with a Turkish background.

Sunrise over Lake Van was impressively filmed across the world in parts of the United States, France, Western Armenia (Turkey), and Armenia, and casts a group of international stars including: Jean Pierre Nshanyan (USA), Aren Vatyan (Russian Federation), Arevik Martirosyan (France), and Gunish Zan (Turkey). Director Vahan Stepanyan will be present at the North American premiere, taking part in a Q & A and the festive cocktail reception to follow the Gala screening.