YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 20, NOYAN TAPAN - ARMENIANS TODAY. The Golden Apricot (Voske Tsiran) fourth international film festival to be held on July 9-14 in Yerevan will open with Italian Taviani brothers' film "The Lark Farm," which raised a great clamour in the days of the Berlin International Festival. Film director Haroutiun Khachatrian, Director of Golden Apricot festival, declared this at the February 20 press conference. He had been present at the Berlin Festival. In his words, this year, from the beginning to the end of the festival, they were constantly speaking and discussing the Armenian Cause, both through cinema and open discussions and dialogues. H. Khachatrian gave assurance that this festival once more confirmed the fact that cultural arm is all-mighty: "what politicians do in many years was presented to the public in a few days through the art of cinema language." Susanna Haroutiunian, Golden Apricot film festival's Art Director, who had also been present at the Berlin Festival, said that the authors of film "The Lark Farm" had especially chosen the Berlin Festival for showing the film, as a great Turkish community lives in that city. "We have seen Italian Fascism and we apologized instead of our brothers," the Taviani brothers said. In her words, the day before the film's premiere it had been shown for media of many countries of the world taking part in the festival. "It was just tremendous. Everybody got excited. A great number of Turkish journalists were present. I left the hall after the film's showing. Chairman of Turkish Association of Film Critics and Film Journalists, Atila Doray came up to me. He embraced me and said: "I beg your pardon." Haroutiun Khachatrian also stated that Director of Berlin Festival Peter Koslik presenting the film said that "we, the German, were able to condemn Fascism. The time has come for Turks also to apologize to Armenians." "For me, the most impressive was that my pain, the story of my heart was spoken about in another language, Italian. Perhaps this is the culminating point of art where global ideas abolish all borders," S. Haroutiunian said.

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