2015 Parajanov-Vartanov Institute Award will honor System of a Down - the Grammy-winning rock band - for their virtuous commitment to justice, exemplified by their historic 2015 “Wake Up the Souls” tour.

Francis Ford Coppola sent a letter to the Institute for the occasion.

“I would like to extend my congratulations to System Of A Down on the award in memory of filmmakers Sergei Parajanov and Mikhail Vartanov, whose work I greatly admire,” Coppola said in his letter. “I am also pleased to hear of the band's unique gesture to help restore Mikhail Vartanov's film Parajanov: The Last Spring, which was created under prohibitive conditions and yet exemplifies the power of art over any limitations. I would strongly encourage others to unite around this significant endeavor.”

Serj Tankian's band launched the ‘Wake up the Souls’ tour earlier this year to mark the Armenian Genocide centennial. Up to 1.5 million Armenians were systematically murdered by the Ottoman government during the Genocide. The tour culminated with the group's first ever show in the country the day before April 24, the beginning of the atrocity.

Previous recipients of the Parajanov-Vartanov award include Hollywood director Martin Scorsese, who accepted the honor in 2014 for his work with The Film Foundation's World Cinema Project on the restoration of Parajanov's 1969 film ‘The Color of Pomegranates’.