The 17th Annual Arpa International Film Festival concluded last weekend with the annual Awards Ceremony and Closing Night Gala Reception at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, California, Azbarez reports.

Following the screening of Jack Topalian’s comedy sitcom “Newlyweds,” Arpa International Film Festival director Michael Ashjian introduced the Festival producer Alex Kalognomos to host the closing night awards ceremony. Asking all the filmmakers to rise and take a bow, Kalognomos added: “This year we were proud to host over 50 films from 16 countries. We were so very pleased to have such amazing quality films to screen this year.”

Opening night film, “Tevanik” directed by Jivan Avetisyan, was received with great enthusiasm, the report says. The following two days, the festival featured spectacular documentaries such as “Music to Madness — The Story of Komitas,” (Canada), “You Have His Eyes” (USA), “Armenian Queens: From Goddess to Slave” (Armenia), “Sumbat : The Life and Art,” (Iran), “War’s Voices” (Russia), and many more.

The Saturday and Sunday Shorts program had variety of fabulous films such as “Najez” (Iran), “Eclipse” (Armenia/Poland), “Born in Adana” (Canada), “As It Used To Be” (France), “No Love Lost” (UK), “Zugzwang” (Spain) and many others.

After the award presentation to filmmakers, AFFMA’s founder Sylvia Minassian thanked everyone who made the festival successful this year before honoring the legendary actor Mike Connors with Arpa’s Lifetime Achievement Award, for a career spanning over five decades, and the beautiful, versatile, talented actress of TV and the Big Screen Angela Sarafyan with a Rising Star Award.

Sunday’s Awards program included prestigious list of presenters; Marc Bienstock, producer; Elham Jazab, comedian; Vahik Pirhamzei, actor/director; Duke Mason, writer/political activist; Anahid Avanessian, actress; Eliz Semerjian, Telemundo; Sebastian Siegel, writer/actor; K-Von, comedian; Garo Mardirossian, esquire; Karina Weeks, actress; Anne Bedian, actress.

Awards mistress was Maria Srdic.

2014 Jury Members

This year’s distinguished panel of judges included producer/director, Marc Bienstock; VP of Production at Lotus Entertainment, Angus Sutherland; President of Feature Division at Aspire Entertainment, Campbell McInnes; Original Entertainment’s Daljit DJ Parmar; Emmy Award-winning producer, Stan Brooks; and award-winning filmmaker/actor, Sebastian Siegel.

Winners

Best Feature Film Award: “37: A Final Promise” by Randall Batinkoff (USA).

Best Director Award: “37: A Final Promise” by Randall Batinkoff (USA).

Best Documentary Film Award: “When My Sorrow Died: The Legend of Armen RA and The Theremin” by Robert Nazar Arjoyan (USA).

Best Short Film Award: “Arena” by Martin Rath (Armenia/Poland).

Best Screenplay Award: “Tevanik” by Jivan Avetisyan (Armenia).

Best Music Video Award: “Rich Husband” (Shohare Pooldar) by Shervin Youssefian (USA).

Best Feature Audience Choice Award: “Toastmaster” by Eric Boadella and Martin Yernazian (Spain/USA).

Best Documentary Audience Choice Award: “Hannah: Buddhism’s Untold Journey” Marta Gyorgy Kessler and Adam Penn (UK).

Best Short Film Audience Choice Award: “Return of the Tyke” by Garo Berberian (UK).

Founded in 1995, AFFMA (Arpa Foundation for Film, Music and Art) is a non-profit organization, formed for the purpose of promoting the arts and enhancing the cultural environment of our community by supporting artists who bridge the cultural divide, unifying diverse people and cultures through the arts.

Since its inception, AFFMA has supported a spectrum of artists including writers, photographers, filmmakers, dancers, designers, actors and musicians, by staging networking events, concerts, art exhibits, book signings, fashion shows, talent shows, musical performances, lectures, forums, comedy nights, special screenings, private premiers, and most significantly staging its signature event, the Arpa International Film Festival since 1997.