The 23rd Annual Arpa International Film Festival (Arpa IFF) proudly announces its full lineup of selected films for this year. 

The Arpa IFF, which in the past has originally taken place at historic theaters around Hollywood, will take place online this year. The Festival will run for an 11-day span in order to accommodate all of its planned screenings as a streaming virtual event November 12 – 22, 2020. This year’s Arpa IFF will once again highlight a diverse range of world cinema, 65 films from 19 countries that explore many contemporary issues. 

For the last 23 years, we have come together to celebrate the art of film. During the selection process, our diligent team of festival programmers set aside time to meticulously select the finalists for this year’s official selection from a large pool of films received this year.

Congratulations to all Selected filmmakers and Award Nominees (*).

Feature Narrative Films 

ALEKSI (*) Feature, Drama, Comedy, Coming of Age 2019 directed by Barbara Vekaric, Croatia

LONE WOLVES Feature, Thriller, Crime, Drama 2019 directed by Sergi Arnau, Spain

MIN ALESH? Feature, Drama 2019 directed by Amleset Muchie, Ethiopia

OMAR AND US (*) Feature, Drama, Human Rights 2019 directed by Maryna Er Gorbach & Mehmet Bahadir Er, Turkey

ONCE UPON A JUDGMENT DAY Feature, Drama, Western 2020 directed by Mehmet Tanrisever, Turkey

RESPITE Feature, Action, Crime, Drama 2019 directed by Saro Varjabedian, USA

SCENT OF MY DAUGHTER Feature, Drama 2019 directed by Olgun Özdemir, Turkey, USA, France

SUBMISSION (*) Feature, Drama 2020 directed by Leonardo Antonio, Portugal

UNTIMELY (*) Feature, Drama 2020 directed by Pouya Eshtehardi, Iran

Feature-length Documentary Films 

AN ARMENIAN TRILOGY (*) Feature Doc, Armenian History, Music 2019 by Dan Yessian, USA
BLOODLESS: THE PATH TO DEMOCRACY (*) Feature Doc, History, Politics, Human Rights 2020 by Silva Basmajian & Bared Maronian, USA
BORN JUST NOW (*) Feature Doc, Performance Art, Women 2018 by Robert Adanto, USA
MIRACLE IN THE DESERT: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE SALTON SEA Feature Doc, Environmentalism 2019 by Greg Bassenian, USA
QUO VADIS 2020 (*) Feature Doc 2019 by Gabriele Fabbro, USA
WHAT WILL BECOME OF US (*) Feature Doc, Armenian History, Diaspora 2020 by Stephanie Ayanian & Joseph Myers, USA

Short Documentary Films

CONFESSIONS OF A RUNNER (*) Short Doc, Sports, Addiction, Recovery 2020 by Bachar Khattar, Lebanon
FINISH LINE (*) Short Doc, Sport, Human Rights 2019 by Saeed Mayahy, Iran
FROM KURILS WITH LOVE (*) Short Doc, Adventure, Wildlife 2020 by Taylor Reese., USA
IN THE SAME DIRECTION: JEFF PIFHER & SOCRATES’ TRIAL Short Music Doc, Jazz 2020 by Alexander Craven, USA
JO & KESSY ARTISTS WITH DISABILITIES Short Doc, Artists, Disability 2019 by Nwaye Zar Che Soe, France

Short Narrative Films 

38 MINUTES Short, Action, Drama 2020 directed by Paul Lacovara, USA
ALINA (*) Short, Drama, Thriller, Holocaust 2019 directed by Rami Kodeih, USA
ANEMONE Short, Drama, Sci-Fi, Action 2019 directed by Alessandro Marcon, Italy
BABU (*) Short, Drama, Family 2019 directed by Eelum Dixit, Nepal
BLACK HEART, RED HANDS (*) Short, Crime, Thriller, Drama 2019 directed by Russell Southam, Australia
DABUR Short, Drama 2019 directed by Saeid Nejati, Iran
DANDELION Short, Romance, Drama 2020 directed by Jörg Viktor Steins-Lauss, USA
DARK SENSES Short, Romance, Thriller, Mystery 2019 directed by Vaz Andreas, USA
EMME Short, Drama, Thriller, Neo Noir 2019 directed by Toshiki Yashiro, USA
FENCED Short, Drama 2019 directed by Rodrigo Zan, USA
FURTHEST FROM (*) Short, Drama, Family, Coming of Age 2019 directed by Kyung Sok Kim, USA
GIFTED Short, Romantic Comedy, Fantasy 2020 directed by Karina Weeks, USA
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Short, Comedy, Drama, Thriller 2018 directed by Mustafa Toby Eck, USA
HEARTBEAT Short, Drama 2020 directed by Chi Wang, USA
LIFELESS Short, Drama 2020 directed by Elvira Sinelnik and Alex Fedosov, USA
MORA & CHENCHI Short, Drama, LGBTQ, Romance 2020 directed by Diego Toussaint, USA
PARADISE PROGRAM Short, Sci-Fi, LGBTQ, Romance 2019 directed by Shanshan Zhang, USA
RETURN (*) Short, Drama 2019 directed by Selman Deniz, Turkey, Armenia
SKITOZ Short, Drama 2020 directed by Alexis & Diego Perrotte, France
THAT STUPID ARMENIAN’S MOTION PICTURE SHOW OR GAREN Short, Comedy 2019 directed by Hrag Meguerditchian, Lebanon
THE ABJURANTS Short, Sci-Fi, Drama 2019 directed by Antonio De Palo, Italy
THE BLUE BED Short, Drama 2020 directed by Alireza Kazemipour, Canada
THE CRITIC (*) Short, Drama, Psychological, Thriller 2018 directed by Stella Velon, USA
THE FAVOR Short, Drama 2019 directed by Henry Bruno, France
THIS LAND (*) Short, Crime, Drama 2019 directed by Michael Aloyan, Armenia
THROWAWAY BOY Short, Drama 2019 directed by Michael A. Pickeney, USA
TWENTY EIGHTY Short, Drama, Fantasy, Human 2020 directed by Eunjoo Na, Korea
WEEKEND Short, Drama 2019 directed by Ario Motevaghe, Iran

Short Animated Films 

10000 UGLY INKBLOTS (*) Animation, Short 2020 by Dmitry Geller, China
ECHO Animation, Short, Drama, Environment 2020 by Barzan Rostami, Iran
GON, THE LITTLE FOX (*) Stop-Motion Animation, Drama, Fantasy 2019 by Takeshi Yashiro, Japan
HARVEST (*) Animation, Short 2018 by Sun Lijun, China
MALAKOUT (*) Animation, Fantasy 2019 by Farnoosh Abedi, Iran
THE ABANDONED BLOCK (*) Animation, Drama, Historic, Art 2020 by James Bourne, Canada
THE ROTATION (*) Animation, Student 2020 by Hazhir As’adi, Iran
THE WINTER (*) Animation, Student 2020 Xin Li, by Australia
UNFRAMED Experimental Animation, Multimedia 2018 by Sona Yeghiazaryan, USA

Music Videos

SMASH AGAIN (*) Artist: CATALYST BARS & ALEXI Music Video, Dance, Pop, Rap 2019 directed by Alexi Papalexopoulos, USA
COVID BACH (*) Artist: ELIZABETH LEWIS Music Video, Animation, Classical 2020 directed by Elizabeth Lewis, Canada
A CHILD (*) Artist: HAMO ARZOUMANIAN Music Video, Armenian 2020 directed by Armen Poladian, Canada
ONLY LOVE (*) Artist: MANU HVALA Music Video, Pop 2020 directed by Manu Hvala, USA
GETAWAY TO KAOHSIUNG (*) Artist: NAMEWEE Music Video, Pop 2020 directed by Namewee, Taiwan

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We will keep informing our filmmakers and supporters of new festival developments via our frequent email newsletters, website blog, FilmFreeway, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
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