Rolla Selbak’s drama Three Veils took the best picture award at the 14th Arpa International Film Festival, which closed Sept 24 at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles.

The festival’s best director and best screenplay awards (the latter coming for the first time with a cash prize) went, respectively, to Marc Fusco and Scott Yagemann and Vahik Pirhamzei for their comedy My Uncle Raphael. Pirhamzei also took the festival’s Breakthrough Performance Award for his starring role in the film.

Arman Yeritsyan and Inna Sahakyan’s The Last Tightrope Dancer in Armenia won the award for best documentary and Eric Nazarian’s Bolis was named best short film.

The festival’s AT&T Award for Environmental Conservation and Stewardship went to documentary Marion Stoddart: The work of 1000, by Susan Edwards.

The Armin T Wegner Humanitarian Award winner was documentary filmmaker and producer Bryan Single for his film Children of War.

The winners were chosen by a jury of entertainment industry professionals which included CAA agents Ara Keshishian and Jeff Speich and marketing executive/producer Owen Ward.

Arpa International Film Festival director Alex Kalognomos said: ” We are proud to be one of Los Angeles’ longest running film festivals. This year’s festival broke previous years’ attendance records with more Angelenos discovering our unique and diverse program of worldwide films that both impact and entertain.”

The Arpa Foundation for Film, Music and Art is a non-profit organisation founded in 1995 for the purposes of enhancing the Los Angeles community’s environment and supporting artists who bridge the cultural divide.

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