Cummings Foundation Grant Recipient
Film Festival

2026 Socially Relevant Film Festival NY, Armenian Films

Rax Rinnekangas Narek Shahverdyan Eleanor Ekserdjian Tamara Stepanyan
Date & Time
Wednesday, March 11, 2026 & Sunday, March 15, 2026 (schedule below)
Location
Lenfest Center for the Arts and Cinema Village, New York, NY
Format
In-Person
2026 Socially Relevant Film Festival NY, Armenian Films
Featured Presenters
  • Rax Rinnekangas
  • Narek Shahverdyan
  • Eleanor Ekserdjian
  • Tamara Stepanyan
Date & Time
Wednesday, March 11, 2026 & Sunday, March 15, 2026 (schedule below)
Location
Lenfest Center for the Arts and Cinema Village, New York, NY
Format
In-Person
Sponsors
  • AGBU Arts
  • Armenian International Women's Association (AIWA)
  • St. Leon Armenian Church NJ
  • National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR)
Description
Wednesday, March 11, 2026 (Opening Night)
The Last Wish | Rax Rinnekangas | Finland Spain | 2024
Narrative Feature | 97 mins
8:00 PM Eastern
Lenfest Center for the Arts
Sunday, March 15, 2026
Silence | Narek Shahverdyan | Armenia | 2025
Documentary Short | 15 mins
4:00 PM Eastern
Cinema Village
Imagined Landscapes | Eleanor Ekserdjian | Armenia/UK | 2024
Documentary Short | 8 mins
4:00 PM Eastern
Cinema Village
My Armenian Phantoms | Tamara Stepanyan | Armenia/France | 2025
Documentary Feature | 75 mins
5:30 PM Eastern
Cinema Village
For more details click here or click the flyer to enlarge.

 

The 13th Edition of SR Socially Relevant™ Film Festival covers a broad range of socially relevant human interest stories. The SRFF 2026 Competition Categories are Narrative Feature, Documentary Feature, Narrative Short, Documentary Short, Women Directed films, BIPOC Films, the Vania Exerjian Award for Empowering Women and Girls, the WFCC Award, and the script writing finalist awards.

The Opening Film at the LenFest Center for the Arts is The Last Wish, a Finnish-Spanish co-production directed by Rax Rinnekangas. The lead actor, Eric Francès, will be in New York to present the film and will be available for interviews, along with Nora Armani, another lead. 

The 2026 program is posted on the website

SRFF was founded by Actress/ Filmmaker Nora Armani in 2013 as a response to the proliferation of violence and violent forms of storytelling in media and entertainment. Following a family tragedy that cost the lives of two of her dearest and nearest, namely her cousin Vania and uncle Jack Exerjian, Armani founded the festival to commemorate them in a meaningful way. SRFF believes in the power of the film medium to raise awareness of social issues and promote positive social change. This new edition deals with topics such as BIPOC Films, Mental Health, Disability, Family and Home, LGBTQ Rights, Race, Religion and Exile, Incarceration and Freedom, New York City, and diverse cultures.

The Mission of the SR Film Festival is to shine a spotlight on filmmakers who tell compelling, socially relevant, human-interest stories across a broad range of social issues without resorting to violence or violent storytelling.


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