The KIRK Award (Le Prix KIRK) at the Cannes Film Festival – Tribute to Armenian Cinema

CANNES, France - May 11, 2025 - PRLog -- A few years ago, Kirk Kerkorian, the American businessman and billionaire philanthropist of Armenian descent, invested $100 million to produce a film about the Armenian Genocide, The Promise, directed by Terry George and starring Oscar Isaac, Charlotte Le Bon, and Christian Bale.

After Kirk Kerkorian's passing, the French chose to pay tribute to him with the Le Prix KIRK (the KIRK Film Award), dedicated to his memory and created by Associated Artists and its President Régis Raffi Bakian. The first edition of the KIRK Award took place in Nice in September 2018.

This year, the KIRK Award (Le Prix KIRK) celebrated excellence in Armenian cinema with two KIRK Awards that were presented on March 16 in New York, by Associated Artists in appreciation of the talent and perseverance of two Armenian filmmakers in the official selection of the 12th edition of SR Socially Relevant Film Festival NY. The winners were Mikayel Dovlatyan, director of the feature film Labyrinth, and Mano Baghjajian, director of the short film Endless Exile. In addition, another award, the GOLDEN KIRK (Le Prix KIRK d'OR), will be presented on this occasion to a winner for the ensemble of their work in cinema.

The KIRK Award, and the Golden KIRK trophies will be presented by journalists Laura DAMIOLA, and Alice KANTERIAN, correspondents in France, on behalf of Associated Artists, during the event on May 17, which will be followed by a convivial cocktail reception, at the Pan Armenian Federation of Film Producers, Palais des Festivals, Marché du Film, Palais -1, 17.06.

Since 2013, SR Socially Relevant Film Festival New York has programmed 795 films from 40 countries, including films from Armenia and the Diaspora. SRFF and Founding Artistic Director Nora Armani will be present this year at the Cannes Film Festival, at the Pan-Armenian Federation of Film Producers' event on May 17 at 3:00 PM at the Marché du Film, Palais des Festivals, -1, 17.06. Armani is an Ambassador of PAFFP for the USA. She will invite films from the members to submit to the SRFF 2026 edition, the 13th year of the festival, scheduled for March 2026, and will discuss collaboration projects with PAFFP

"On behalf of SRFF, I warmly congratulate the Pan-Armenian Federation of Film Producers, its President Hovhannes Galstyan, and its main sponsor, the Gagik Tsarukyan Foundation. We applaud this initiative and express our eagerness to collaborate on all fronts. SRFF is ready to welcome cinematic works produced by PAFFP members in future editions of the SR Film Festival in New York. We are honored to count the PAFFP, the Tsarukyan Foundation, the KIRK Award, and its president, Régis Raffi Bakian of Associated Artists, as our partners." Said Nora Armani, Founder and Artistic Director of SRFF.

Submissions for SRFF 2026 are open on FilmFreeway (https://filmfreeway.com/SRFF26), or the festival website: www.ratedsrfilms.org