The Turkish film LOST BIRDS directed by Ela Alyamac and Aren Perdeci is the big winner of the 2015 Arpa International Film Festival, taking the awards for Best Feature Film, Best Director for Ela Alyamac and Aren Perdeci, and Armin T. Wegner Humanitarian Awards. MY LIFE IN CHINA directed by Kenneth Eng is the winner of the Best Documentary Award.

Lost Birds is set in 1915 in an Armenian village in Anatolia. Bedo and Maryam return from their secret dovecote only to find an empty house and a ghost village. The children embark on a journey to search for their mother, along with their bird ‘Bacik’.

My Life in China is a personal film that takes viewers on a journey to rural China where an emotional revelation takes place.

The complete list of winners of 2015 Arpa International Film Festival

Best Feature Film
Lost Birds (2015) | Turkey | Director: Ela Alyamac, Aren Perdeci | Writers: Ela Alyamac, Aren Perdeci | Language: Turkish, Armenian

Best Documentary
My Life in China (2014) | U.S.A. | Director: Kenneth Eng | Writer: Ehren Parks | Language: Chinese

Best Short Film
The Loyalist (2015) | South Korea, USA | Director: Minji Kang | Writer: Willem Lee | Language: Korean

Best Director
Ela Alyamac and Aren Perdeci, Lost Birds

Best Screenplay
Zymber Kelmendi, Three Windows and a Hanging (2014) | Kosovo | Language: Albanian

Lifetime Achievement
Esai Morales

Armin T. Wegner Humanitarian
Lost Birds, Ela Alyamac and Aren Perdeci (writers-directors-producers)

Rising Star
David Dastmalchian