The fight against holding the Azerbaijani Film Festival in Armenia continues in northern provinces of the country, as a result of which on Monday morning a group of people throwing eggs and stones at the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly (HCA) Vanadzor Office, tried to hinder the show of the Azeri films.

A controversial festival of Azeri films was held at a private restaurant outside Gyumri after some angry residents of Armenia’s second largest city prevented its holding at a local media club by staging a protest that also reportedly included an assault on the festival’s organizer Georgi Vanyan.

‘Stop’ Azerbaijani Film Festival which will be hosted by Gyumri, on Thursday raised a big clamor among Gyumretsis; the organizers of the festival even receive threats of physical revenge along with pickets which are being held for several days. Nevertheless, despite the public discontent, the festival will be held in the hall provided by Gyumri’s Asparez Club of Journalists.

The International Day of Theater is marked in Armenia every year with the Artavazd awards, where the best theatrical works of the past year are evaluated in 12 nominations.

This year the awards on the day (March 27) were also dedicated to the 70th anniversary of Armenia’s Union of Theater Workers.

World-famous Georges Bizet’s Carmen opera performance signaled the launch of the Francophonie-2012 concert program last Friday in Yerevan, with 250 events scheduled for different provinces of Armenia.

The tradition of holding events devoted to the French language and culture was formed four decades ago and has now become a movement uniting 75 countries, 56 of which are member-countries of the International Organization of the Francophonie, 16 are observers, and three are associate members.

Hotels, restaurants, concert halls and night clubs in Yerevan are ready to receive about 25,000 Iranian tourists who are expected to visit Armenia and on March 21 to celebrate Nowruz, the Iranian New Year, marked at around the vernal equinox time.

Maria Rameza, 38, will stay in Armenia with her family for almost two weeks. This is her fourth visit to Armenia.

The first National Film Awards called ‘Hayak’, on March 18, recapped film production over the 20 years of independent Armenia.

The Best Feature Film was Vigen Chaldranyan’s ‘Voice in the Wilderness…’, Harutyun Khachatryan was the Best Director for ‘Border’ film, Anna Elbakyan was the Best Actress and Michael Poghosyan – the Best Actor.

The last parliamentary and presidential elections in Armenia (in 2007-2008, respectively) saw not only the revival of civil society, but also the return of a popular Armenian rock band of the 1990s with its soloist’s participation in public events, delivering speeches at opposition rallies.

The State Youth Orchestra of Armenia (SYOA) is due to hold concerns at eight universities of Armenia March 15-27 as part of a joint music initiative with the United States Embassy in Yerevan.

The “Youth for Youth” concerts celebrate the 20th anniversary of U.S.-Armenian diplomatic relations. According to the information on the US Embassy’s website, the SYOA, under the leadership of Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Sergey Smbatyan, presents the “Hollywood Non-Stop” program, including well-known music from “Gladiator”, “Braveheart,” “West Side Story,” “Pirates of the Caribbean” and other classic Hollywood soundtracks.

Three American Republican senators have drafted a resolution, urging Turkey “to return to their rightful owners all Christian churches” as well as to “end all forms of religious discrimination.”

Last December a similar resolution was adopted by the House of Representatives of the US Congress. The Armenian lobbyist organizations considered the adoption of the resolution by the House of Representatives to be a “historical victory,” emphasizing that it was the victory of religious freedom.