10,000 dollars for Azerbaijani film festival
Director of the "Caucasus Center of Peace-making Initiatives" Georgi Vanyan's press conference turned into a debate between him and journalists.
"I am not receiving any profit from holding this Azerbaijani film festival. Our organization is a non-profit organization and the festival is being held with a small grant provided by the U.S. Embassy," said Director of the "Caucasus Center of Peace-making Initiatives" Georgi Vanyan. Journalists insisted that he state the amount of money and he gave way by saying that it ranged from 9,600 to 10,000 USD.
According to Vanyan, the only thing his organization gets out of this is community service. Vanyan says there was an initiative in 2009, but he refused to hold a closed festival because public screenings would give people the opportunity to watch and express their views on the films.
In terms of film selection, Vanyan noted that they are artistic and documental films produced in the past 5 years and are considered to be the most valuable.
"The festival will take place despite the threats from patriots who have declared themselves as the judges," said Vanyan.
Georgi Vanyan was asked whether he had seen the Azerbaijanis' video report preceding the murder of Manvel Saribekyan. After Vanyan gave a positive response, journalists asked why he hadn't made a statement as a public figure, but the question remained unanswered.
Journalists also asked Mr. Vanyan why he had apologized to the Azerbaijani for the events of Khojalu in one of the websites. After hearing the same question a couple of times, the public figure finally said the events of Sumgait and Khojalu are similar because the events of Khojalu were planned by the same center, that is, the Kremlin. The speaker noted that apologies will help avoid events such as those in Khojalu and Sumgait in the future.
