The 23rd Golden Apricot International Film Festival in Yerevan has concluded, with the jury announcing this year's award winners.

In the International Feature Competition, the festival's top prize, the Golden Apricot, was awarded to Milagros Mumenthaler's film The Currents. The Silver Apricot went to Morteza Ahmadvand and Firouzeh Khosrovani for Past, Future, Continuous, while London, directed by Sebastian Bramhuber, received a Special Mention from the International Jury, Armenpress reported.

In the Regional Competition, the Golden Apricot was awarded to Amir Azizi's Inside Amir, while the Silver Apricot went to Alexandre Koberidze's Dry Leaf. Dry Leaf also received the FIPRESCI Prize, presented by the International Federation of Film Critics.

In the Koriz competition for short films, the Golden Apricot was awarded to Seruzh Hovsepyan's Dialogues Solitaire. The film also received the Gennady Melkonyan Special Prize. The Silver Apricot in the category went to Hovsanna Gevorgyan's Paid Mourners.

The jury also presented Special Mentions to Sona Khachatryan's Relic and Arthur Sahakyan's Together Alone. In addition, Teresa Nvotova's The Father received a distribution award for Armenia and Georgia, including €6,000 in financial support to facilitate the film's regional release.

During the ceremony, the festival's Parajanov's Thaler award was presented to Mahmoud Kalari, chairman of the Regional Competition jury. The festival's Master award was presented to one of Hollywood's most promising producers, Sev Ohanian.

Festival Artistic Director Karen Avetisyan said the seven-day event featured numerous significant moments, including notable film premieres, masterclasses and other cultural activities.

Avetisyan invited the audience to warmly welcome acclaimed French-Armenian actor and director Simon Abkarian, whose films De Gaulle's Fight and De Gaulle: Freedom, in which he plays the leading role, were screened during the festival. He also honored distinguished director, screenwriter and producer Roman Balayan, recipient of the festival's Parajanov's Thaler award, who is celebrating his 85th birthday this year, and Armenian-American producer Sev Ohanian, whose film Sinners has won four Academy Awards and a Golden Globe.

"It is very important for us to recognize artists whose Armenian heritage makes us proud, while also valuing the connection they maintain with Armenia. Golden Apricot is a fitting opportunity to honor a master who, despite not yet reaching his forties, has already built an extraordinary legacy in world cinema. Today's active producer is our compatriot Sev Ohanian, whose film Sinners received a record 16 Academy Award nominations and won four. Before that, he explored many creative directions in filmmaking and eventually reached major productions with multimillion-dollar budgets," Avetisyan said before presenting Ohanian with the festival's Master award.

Accepting the award, Ohanian spoke partly in Armenian and partly in English. He had prepared his acceptance speech in advance and read it in Armenian.

"Thank you very much for this award. I feel incredibly fortunate in my profession. I have visited many countries and received awards on major stages, but I sincerely believe that premiering my film in Armenia and receiving this award means even more to me. I am a film producer, but even more importantly, I am Armenian. The truth is that the only reason I became a producer is because I am Armenian," he said, recalling that many years ago he made his first film, My Big Fat Armenian Family.

He noted that he served as the film's director, screenwriter and producer. The only crew member he initially had was a makeup artist, but after that person left the production, Ohanian also took over the makeup duties. He said he made the film simply for enjoyment and never imagined becoming a professional producer.

"Then something incredible happened. Armenians around the world seemed to embrace me. Members of the Armenian community in the U.S. bought tickets to watch the film, while Armenians from other countries, including Armenia, ordered its DVDs. That support gave me confidence in myself and my abilities. Today I strive to give back by supporting a new generation of Armenian filmmakers and helping them advance in Hollywood. That is exactly what Hollywood figures such as Rouben Mamoulian, Atom Egoyan, Arsinee Khanjian, Eric Bogosian and others have also done," Ohanian said, thanking the founders of the Golden Apricot festival for what he described as a meaningful gift, adding that the award "feels like home."

The festival concluded with a screening of Godfrey Reggio's film Once Upon a Time.