Atom Egoyan`s new film to open Golden Apricot 21st Int`l Film  Festival 

ArmInfo. Atom Egoyan's new film, the drama "Seven Veils", will open the 21st  Golden Apricot  Yerevan International Film Festival (GAIFF) 2024., which will be held in Yerevan from July 7 to 14. The world premiere of the film took place last September at the Toronto Film Festival.

The film stars Amanda Seyfried as Jeanine, a theatre director who is  dealing with repressed trauma as she prepares to mount a production  of the opera Salome.This is a gripping and vibrant reimagining of  Richard Strauss's opera Salome, based on Oscar Wilde's play of the  same name. The play was written in 1891 and the opera in 1905, but it  took them almost a quarter of a century to get to European stages due  to censorship restrictions. The central scene of the play is the  Dance of the Seven Veils. The image of Salome, who throws off her  seven veils during the dance and remains naked before Herod, has been  interpreted in different ways and has moved artists around the world  for centuries. It is generally accepted that the seven veils are the  seven deadly sins: pride, greed, anger, envy, lust, gluttony and  laziness. Egoyan does not follow this metaphor literally, but the  main character, Jeanine, has so many skeletons in her closet that the  story of Salome takes on new meaning for her. The film will be shown  not only at the opening, but also during the festival as the "Yerevan  Premiere". The script for the film was written by Egoyan, who is also  producing the film together with Niv Fichman, Simone Urdl, Fraser Ash  and Kevin Krikst and others. According to the press service of the  Festival organizers, Atom Egoyan will also head the jury of "Koriz"  short films this year and will be awarded the "Parajanov Thaler" for  his contribution to the film industry. The jury of short films will  also include the famous Russian film critic, writer, author of about  two dozen books on cinema and hundreds of reviews, columnist for the  MEDUZA website, member of the jury of the Screen International  magazine film festival Anton Dolin and Egyptian film critic, member  of the World Association of Film Critics, president of FIPRESCI Ahmed  Shawqi.

This year the "Golden Apricot" will be dedicated to the 100th  anniversary of Sergei Parajanov and Charles Aznavour. According to  tradition, within the framework of the "Golden Apricot", the Yerevan  viewer will have the opportunity to watch competition films from  different countries of the world, as well as from the most  prestigious film festivals (Cannes, Berlin, etc.). A visit by  outstanding figures of world cinema is also expected, who will  present their experience and art to film lovers in Armenia. Atom  Egoyan is one of the most famous Canadian-Armenian  directors, having  shot 19 films, some of which received prizes at international  festivals and Oscar nominations.