New York Film Festival

The SR Socially Relevant Film Festival took place in New York. The mission of the film festival is to highlight filmmakers who tell compelling, socially relevant, human interest stories on a wide range of social issues, without resorting to violence or violent forms of storytelling.
 
The award ceremony took place at the National Arts Club (chaired by Nina Urban). In the presence of more than 140 people, including club members, directors, jury members and friends, the winners were announced, the 20 winners were awarded and trophies were presented in the form of a silk scarf donated by Lost Pattern.
SRFF's 2024 selection "Maya," directed by Julia Verdin, won the Vanya Ekserjian Award for Empowering Women and Girls, an award presented by festival founder Nora Armani in memory of her cousin, who was the victim of a hate crime against a woman.
The main prize in the “Narrative Feature Film” category went to the film “Valley of Exiles” directed by Anna Far, and a special jury prize was given to 2 films: “I Am Gitmo” by Philip Diaz and “From Life to Life” by Beka Sikharulidze. The films “ORA” by Michel Garcia and “Blockade” by Hakob Melkonyan were presented in the “Best Documentary Feature Film” category, and the special jury prize in the documentary feature category went to the film “DEPO: Reflection of Boijmans” by Sonya Herman Doltz. Awards were presented in the categories of Narrative Short, Documentary Short, Best Actor, Best Actress, Women Film Critics Circle Award, IndiePix Unlimited Vision Award, Best Screenplay, etc. d. “We are proud that over the past 11 years we have had the opportunity to present more than 700 socially relevant films from 40 countries. This year’s selection includes 53 incredible films from around the world.” SRFF was founded by actress and filmmaker Nora Armani in 2013 in response to the proliferation of violence and violent forms of storytelling in media and entertainment. After a family tragedy that cost the lives of two of her dearest and closest people—cousin Vanya and uncle Jack Exerjian—Armani founded the festival to meaningfully honor their memory. SRFF believes in the power of cinema to raise awareness of social issues and promote positive social change. Topics such as climate change, family and adoption, LGBTQ rights, home and health, disability, incarceration and freedom, New York City, racism and culture are of interest.
Marina Lagunova