The 19th “Rolan” International Film Festival for Children and Youth

Press Release

31.10.2023-04.11.2023

We are excited to announce that this year the 19th “Rolan” International Film Festival for Children and Youth will take place on 31.10.-04.11.2023 with the support of RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, The International Visegrad Fund, The Embassy of the French Republic in Armenia, and The French Institute of Armenia.

It should be noted that we again found ourselves in a difficult situation. The whole Armenian population of Artsakh was displaced; 30,000 of them are children, our future. Now more than ever it is extremely important to give them love, warmth, and hope for the future. And that is why the Festival will bear the title "Towards Hope".

This year the Festival will be held in Yerevan and 4 regions of the RA (Lori, Shirak, Tavush, Gegharkunik) and will be dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Armenian cinema.

Within the framework of the Festival, film screenings and other events are planned to be held in Yerevan and the aforementioned regions of the RA, involving Artsakh children and youth settled there as much as possible.

Out of 186 applications received from 38 countries, 74 films from 28 countries were included in the Festival program.

Within the framework of the 19th Rolan International Film Festival for Children and Youth, the following competitive and non-competitive nominations (9) are presented: “The Grand Prix” award, “Best Long Feature Film” and “Best Short Feature Film” nominations, with their jury- students of the Yerevan branch of Henrik Igityan National Center of Aesthetics, “Best Long Animation Film” and “Best Short Animation Film”, with their jury- students of Tumo Center for Creative Technologies from Yerevan, Gyumri, Berd, and Stepanakert, “Best Visegrad film”, with its jury- students of Yerevan basic school Nº 199 after Henrik Khachatryan, “Best French Film” nomination, with its jury “Axiomia” NGO. 4 films are included in the “Kids for Kids” non-competitive nomination of the Festival: “Dante's Divine Comedy” (students of the Tumo Center for Creative Technologies, 2023), “A Piece of Yerevantsi” (students of Ayb School, 2018), “The River flows, and the Girl Lives” (Marina Soloyan, 2022), “Dramatic” (Aghavni Ghazaryan, 2018).

During the Festival days, from October 31 to November 4, the best animation and feature films of the Festival will be screened and creative meetings and workshops will be organized in Moscow Cinema, Yerevan Children and Youth Creative Civil Centre, Ayb School, Tumo Center for Creative Technologies (Yerevan), Naregatsi Art Institute, Yerevak Educational Complex; and in RA regions- Gavar orphanage (Gegharkunik region), Presbytery of Tavush Diocese (Ijevan, Tavush region), Vanadzor and Gyumri branches of Henrik Igityan National Center of Aesthetics (Lori, Shirak regions).

In the frames of the 19th "Rolan" IFF, winners of many international awards will be screened with the exclusive right: 2021 Oscar nominee “Wolfwalkers” (dir.: Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart, Ireland, Luxembourg, France, 2020), “Belle and Sébastien: The New Generation” (dir.: Pierre Coré, France, 2022), “Even Mice Belong in Heaven” (dir.: Jan Bubeníček, Denisa Grimmová, the Czech Republic, France, Poland, Slovakia, 2021), “Beanie” (dir.: Slobodan Maksimovic, Slovenia, Slovakia, Luxembourg, Croatia, 2022), “Okthanksbye” (dir.: Nicole van Kilsdonk, the Netherlands, 2022), “Sandbox” (dir.: Garry Bardin, Russia, 2021, premiere), “Ave Maria” (dir: Garry Bardin, Russia, 2023, premiere), and other films.

One of the special screenings of this year's Festival is the "Panorama of Armenian Films-100" special program, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Armenian cinema, in which 12 Armenian films are presented, including our favourite old animations. The program includes “Fox Book” (dir.: Robert Sahakyants, 1975), “A Found Dream” (dir.: Hovhannes Dilakyan, 1976), “Magical Lavash” (dir.: S. Andranikyan, N. Atajanyan, 1973), “In the Blue Sea, in White Foam...” (dir.: Robert Sahakyants, 1984), “Kikos” (dir.: Robert Sahakyants, 1979), “Unlucky Panos” (dir.: Stepan Galstyan, 1980), “The Meeting of Mice” (dir.: Lyudmila Sahakyants, 1978), “Puy-Puy” (dir.: Rafael Babayan, 1971), “The Song of Flying Leaves” (dir.: Armine Anda, 2023), “The New Year” (dir.: Naira Muradyan, 2015), “Aniko” (dir.: Anna Harutyunyan, 2019), “Mimi” (dir.: Arsen Aslanyan, 2018). The films will be screened in Yerevan and the RA regions.

Since 2017, the Armenian Rolan Bykov Foundation has been cooperating with the International Visegrad Fund within the framework of special projects of the Festival. This year the special project, “Armenia+Visegrad: New Opportunities for the Continuation of Intercultural Dialogue”, will be implemented.

The partners of the Project are from Visegrad countries (Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Poland) and Georgia; “Super Film” from Slovakia, “Kid's Eye Art Association” from Hungary, “HumanDoc Foundation” from Poland, “JUNIORFEST” International Film Festival from the Czech Republic, and “Culture and Education Foundation” from Georgia.

Within the framework of the Armenia-Visegrad special project, it is planned to implement:

• Screenings of 15 Visegrad films from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, and Armenia,

• The traditional nomination "Best Visegrad Film", included in the Festival competition program,

• “Visegrad through the Eyes of Armenian Children” exhibitions-contests of children’s artworks to be implemented on 31.10-21.11.2023 in Vanadzor and Gyumri branches of Henrik Igityan National Center of Aesthetics. During the exhibition-contest, artworks depicting the cultural heritage of the Visegrad countries will be displayed.

• Within the framework of the Project, filmmakers from Visegrad countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland) will hold workshops and creative meetings for Armenian children and youth.

This year, the cooperation of “Rolan” IFF with the Embassy of the French Republic in Armenia continues traditionally. The Festival has also started cooperation with the French Institute of Armenia. The nomination “Best French Film” is included in the competition program of the Festival. The nomination includes 7 feature and animation (long, short) films for children and youth. Within the framework of the program, screenings of French films will also be held in Yerevan and 2 RA regions (Tavush, Gegharkunik).

Opening and closing ceremonies, press conference, film screenings, premieres, special screenings, exhibition-contests, creative meetings, and workshops are planned to be held within the framework of the 19th “Rolan” International Film Festival for Children and Youth not only in Yerevan but also in the RA regions.

The opening ceremony of the Festival will take place at Moscow Cinema (big red hall) on October 31, 2023, at 19:00.

The closing ceremony of the Festival will take place at Moscow Cinema (big red hall) on November 4, 2023, at 19:00.

All the Festival events are organized exclusively on a charitable basis.

Join us and follow the progress of the Festival and the implemented projects through the website, official Facebook, and Instagram pages of the "Rolan" International Film Festival for Children and Youth.

Official website of the Festival - http://rolanbf.com/

Official Facebook page - /ROLANIFF

Official Instagram page - @rolanfilmfest

Vardanants street, pass 8, Yerevan, RA

Tel.: (+374 98) 84 53 03

Nune Manukyan, the president of the Festival and Armenian Rolan Bykov Foundation

Karine Grigoryan, press secretary of the Festival

(tel.: 091 51 04 79, e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )