Presented by the esteemed Parajanov-Vartanov Institute, STORYTELLA will screen and award Fiction films in an official sidebar of the institute’s signature annual festival DOC LA, which has traditionally programmed fictional stories alongside the documentary competition.
We are enthusiastic about discovering outstanding fiction films by students, emerging auteurs, and established masters, especially those that our city's other important festivals overlook. We are also interested in unusual, strange and unclassifiable films, since the festival presenting institute is named after the renowned nonconformists Sergei Paradjanov (1924-1990) and Mikhail Vartanov (1937-2009), who overcame censorship, persecution and low budgets, and earned praise for their daring point of view from many of cinema’s greatest luminaries.
The festival’s programmer is their disciple and UCLA alum Martiros Vartanov who has served as a curator and juror at festivals in Busan and Beverly Hills and worked on the restoration of the The Color of Pomegranates selected for Festival de Cannes. He also presents the institute's and the festival's annual awards whose recipients include Academy Award ® winning director Martin Scorsese, Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Saroyan, French cinema icon Jean Vigo, Oscar ® winning actresses Emma Thompson, Marion Cotillard, Susan Sarandon and Cate Blanchett, as well as Usher, Emilio Rivera, Ice-T, Alfred Molina, Billy Baldwin, Angela Bassett, Mark Ruffalo, and the Grammy-winning rock band System Of A Down.
Best Film Award
Best Short Film Award
Best Student Film Award
Best Animated Film Award
STORYTELLA, at its discretion, may award cash prizes and special awards:
Best Experimental Film Award
Best Cinematography Award
Best Actor/Actress Award
Best Screenwriter Award
Best Horror Film Award
Best Composer Award
Best Sci-Fi Film Award
Best Producer Award
Best Directing Award
Honorable Mention
Best Editing Award
Audience Award