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The 19th Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival will kick off with "Amerikatsi" (American) by director Michael Goorjian. The official opening ceremony of the festival will take place on July 10 at Aram Khachaturian Concert Hall. This year, the International Film Festival will present to the public films from different countries of the world as well as films from the most prestigious film festivals, organizers said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Amerikatsi" is a 2022 Armenia / USA co-produced film. Producers: Arman Nshanian, Patrick Malkassian, Sol Tryon. Script: Michael Goorjian. Director of Photography: Ghasm Ebrahimian. Music by: Andranik Berberyan. Edit: Mike Solemn, Michael Goorjian. Cast: Michael Goorjian, Hovik Keuchkerian, Nelli Uvarova, Mikhail Trukhin.

As a young boy, Charlie escaped the Armenian genocide by stowing away in a trunk bound for the United States. His family was not so lucky. Despite his tragic start, as an adult, Charlie has managed to maintain his child-like wonder for the world. However, like so many refugees and orphans, there’s a hole in Charlie’s big heart. Our story begins in 1947, as Charlie repatriates back to Armenia only to be greeted by the harsh reality of Soviet Communism. The soul of Armenia has been suffocated beneath the iron curtain. Almost immediately Charlie is arrested and sentenced to prison for the absurd crime of wearing a tie. To further ensure that he doesn’t influence other prisoners with his “cosmopolitan” ways, Charlie is placed in solitary confinement. Just as he appears to be succumbing to the terror of his situation, Charlie discovers that the prison wall outside his cell window had been damaged during a recent earthquake.

Michael Goorjian is an Emmy Award winning actor, writer, and filmmaker of Armenian decent, born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. Michael won the Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in David’s Mother alongside Kirstie Alley. He is also well known for playing Neve Campbell’s love interest, Justin, on the Golden Globe winning series Party of Five, as well as Heroin Bob in the cult classic SLC Punk. Recently he starred alongside Robert De Niro in HBO’s The Wizard of Lies. Other film & television credits include: Newsies, Chaplin with Robert Downey Jr., Forever Young with Mel   Gibson, Leaving Las Vegas, Hard Rain with Morgan Freeman, Broken with Heather Graham, The Invisibles, Lucifer, Covert Affairs, Lie to Me, House, Alias, Monk, CSI, Without a Trace to name a few. On stage, Michael has won numerous awards, including; an L.A. Weekly Theater Award for Best Lead Actor in Modigliani, and a LA Critics Choice Award for choreographing the world premiere of Reefer Madness the Musical. Most recently Michael appeared at Berkeley Repertory Theater World premiere of Imaginary Comforts by Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket). As director, Michael achieved international acclaim for his award-winning feature film debut, Illusion, in which he starred alongside Hollywood-legend Kirk Douglas (and some other guy named Bryan Cranston).

The 19th Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival will take place on July 10-17, 2022.