CANNES — Actress Nora Armani earlier in May received the Golden Kirk (Le Prix Kirk d’Or) from Associated Artists and its president, Régis Raffi Bakian. The award was given to Armani for her commitment to social cinema.
Le Prix Kirk (The Kirk Award for excellence in Armenian Cinema) and the Le Prix Kirk d’Or (The Golden Kirk) were awarded at the Cannes Film Festival Marché du Film on May 17, at the Pan-Armenian Federation of Film Producers stand in the Palais des Festivals.
A few years ago, Kirk Kerkorian, the American billionaire businessman and philanthropist of Armenian descent, invested $100 million to produce a film about the Armenian Genocide, “The Promise,” directed by Terry George and starring Christian Bale, Oscar Isaac and Charlotte Le Bon.
After Kirk Kerkorian’s passing, the French chose to pay tribute to him with the Le Prix Kirk (The Kirk Award), dedicated to his memory and created by Associated Artists and Bakian. The first edition of the awards took place in Nice in September 2018.
This year, the Kirk Award celebrated excellence in Armenian cinema with two awards that were presented by Associated Artists in appreciation of the talent and perseverance of two Armenian filmmakers in the official selection of the 12th edition of the SR Socially Relevant Film Festival in New York in March.
The Associated Artists and Bakian, awarded Le Prix Kirk d’Or to Nora Armani, an actress committed to social cinema, in appreciation of her work promoting socially engaged cinema. The trophy was presented to Nora Armani by film critics Alice Kanterian and Laura Damiola on behalf of Associated Artists. They recognized the enormous contribution Armani has made to the promotion of social cinema in general, and Armenian cinema in particular.
