Home » Armenia » Art and Culture » Theatre and Film
Theatre and Film
Theatre in Armenia started around the II-I millennium BC, and initially performed both Greek and Armenian dramas. Even King Artavazd II wrote plays, and Roman historians refer to the staging of Armenian plays. The art and culture of theatre is widely spread in Armenia. Since immemorial times, theatre was an inseparable part of our culture.
Nowadays there are about 17 major functioning theatres in Yerevan among which are The Ghaplanyan Drama Theatre, The Paronyan State Theatre of Musical Comedy, The Sundukian National Academic Theatre, K. Stanislavski State Russian Drama Theatre, The State Marionette Theatre, etc… Some of them are very famous abroad and have international tours in very many foreign countries.
While the theatre continues its traditions today, the development of the Armenian film industry started in 1924 with documentary films before producing the first Armenian feature film the same year. Drawing upon historical, cultural and rural influences, the Armenian film industry was particularly developed during the Soviet years before its collapse.
The most famous of all Armenian film directors is internationally renowned Sergei Paradjanov, and works such as "The Colour of Pomegranates" have won awards and are critically acclaimed worldwide. The museum dedicated to his life and work is Yerevan's most visited, and unique among museums found throughout the world.
Nowadays, film making is prospering and new films and young and talented film directors appear in the scene. There are even international film festivals held in Armenia every year. One of them is Yerevan International Film Festival GOLDEN APRICOT.
GOLDEN APRICOT was established in 2004 by the Golden Apricot Fund for Cinema Development, the Armenian Association of Film Critics and Cinema Journalists, supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia and the Ministry of Culture of Republic of Armenia. Films of many Armenian and foreign directors are presented in the festival.
