Rebecca - UN WEEK-END À L’EST

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Rebecca Topakian

Rebecca Topakian, born in 1989, lives between Paris and Yerevan. After studying philosophy and geography, she turned to photography, continuing in Arles the research she had already begun in the humanities : exploring the definition of identity in its invisible, mythological, and fictional dimensions. For her, identity lies at the intersection of the political, the personal, and the poetic. Her book Infra- (Classe Moyenne Éditions, 2017) was shortlisted for the Author Book Award at the 2018 Rencontres d’Arles. Her work has been exhibited in France and abroad. In 2020, she won the Regards du Grand Paris national commission (Cnap x Ateliers Médicis).
During the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, which affected her personally for various reasons, she organized the sale of prints called "Photographers for Peace," gathering over 100 photographers. After this, she decided to apply for Armenian citizenship and began living between Paris and Yerevan.
In 2021, she received the Artists’ Foundation grant, the Cnap documentary photography grant, the Blow Up Press Award, and the Transverse grant. In 2022, she won the Fénéon Prize, and her book Rouge Insecte (with Araks Sahakyan – Sometimes Éditions, 2022) was published. She was also selected for the BNF national commission "Radioscopie de la France." In 2023, she won the ADIAF x Katawiki Emergence Prize. That same year, she covered the ethnic cleansing of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh as a photojournalist, an important experience in her personal and professional journey. Winner of the Blow Up Press Award in 2021, her book Dame Gulizar and Other Love Stories will be released by the same publisher in the summer of 2024.

festival special guest

André Manoukian

André Manoukian, born from Armenian parents, learned the piano and the violin before studying at the Berklee College of Music in Boston in 1977. A classically trained pianist, he developed an interest in jazz and formed a big band. In 1983, he discovered singer Liane Foly, for whom he became an (…)

festival special guest

Rima Pipoyan

Rima Pipoyan is s one of the pioneers of modern ballet and contemporary dance in Armenia. She is a choreographer, director, and dancer. Her choreographic works have been presented in various cities of Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Portugal, Serbia, Croatia, Russia, Belarus, (…)