Discoveries from Armenia World Cinema

"Dragonfly" is a poetic allegory about the struggle between light and darkness, about overcoming death and the rebirth of life.

By order of the Prime Minister, two hairdressers will serve as foreign diplomats for a while. Incredible adventures and fun are guaranteed.

One of the few Armenian fictions of the 1940s, this parable about the aftermath of World War II reveals the director's deeply humanistic vision, who finds the epic and the universal in minor and private subjects.

Old man meets his brother separated from him during the Armenian Genocide, in a painting.

Poetic essay about the beginning of life from labor pains and birth and about its symbolic meaning.

Vishap is the first Armenian superhero. He lives next to us, assures people's safety, and fights for justice. Be cautious. He may be watching you.

This story is about Armenian women through thousands of years of Armenian history: from the Goddess to the slave.

Mediocre and poor poet Hamazasp is tempted by the Devil. He tastes all that the money and fame could bring but loses moral ground. The perfect portraying of transitional politicians...

The film is mainly concerned with the homeland, national cultural traditions and customs, family values, ancestors and the fate of the Armenian people. The basic idea of migration itself is particularly important here. In this case, in the role of the author, I indirectly and subtly tell my own story, attached to the more philosophical passages of the novel.

Grandfather knows more than you can imagine, but no secret stays in the shadows forever. Dark clouds are gathering over the school, it's time to find out who will be the hero of this story...

A short film reimagining Othello through the perspective of Iago not as a secondary villain, but as the hidden center of the tragedy. Humiliated and overlooked, he experiences rejection and an inner fracture that slowly transforms into cold, calculated revenge. Iago moves like a shadow, subtly guiding words, glances, and actions, dismantling the trust between Othello and Desdemona. The film is built around key highlights of his manipulation quiet interventions that lead to catastrophe. It is less a story about jealousy than about a wounded ego turned into a weapon, and a man who destroys a world while remaining unseen.

A tender posthumous letter to Tamara’s father, who was a film actor in Soviet Armenia. She already watched him on TV as a child before later establishing herself as a filmmaker. A captivating sleepwalk through the landscapes of Armenian film history.

Film about kindness

Young filmmakers spot a woman in a wheelchair at a café and recognize her as the heroine of their upcoming film. But soon they realize: the supposed creators are mere characters in someone else’s story, and the “victim” is the true director.

The wealthy Ferdinand orders his assistant Bagrat and his son Tatul to kidnap his accountant's daughter, Ani, because the accountant Artashes is going to testify against Ferdinand in court, after which all his dark deeds will be revealed. Knowing about the villains' plans, one of the policemen, Tatev, who used to be the camp's squad leader, hides Ani in the camp, where Ani is enrolled in the camp's SPECIAL SQUAD to participate in inter-camp competitions.

Money is a power for which human beings are ready to do a lot. But does money ensure safe life, as long as there are people who assess justice?

Arsen travels from the United States to Armenia to replace a plastic surgeon who was supposed to perform an illegal operation. An unplanned visit disrupts everyone's plans.

Eight-year-old Sargis' father returns home and gives a present to Sargis his dream phone. On the same day, Sargis learns that his father has returned to break up with his mother.

A short film about a small town where the past and the present are difficult to tell apart.

This story is about a 25-year-old gifted poet Adam from a small, dystopian provincial town, who is forced by this drab environment to wear a mask of a «local figure of authority» in order to protect his friends from bullying. At last, he decides to leave this «hellhole» but not all stories have a happy ending. A triangle love story with "Romeo and Juliet" crossover.

A filmmaker and a soldier, who both experienced the war in Nagorno-Karabakh, set off on a road trip to overcome their survivor’s guilt. They are returning to the war-torn areas in search of a renewed, mulberry-infused taste of life.

The cartoon is about a hard-working donkey who achieves great success due to his faith, perseverance, and courage.

A new look at the Armenian diaspora, through the story of Levon, who works in a junkyard in Los Angeles. Through its leaps in space and time, the film exacerbates the disillusionment of its character, who came from Soviet Armenia and is living not the American dream, but the nightmare of unbridled capitalism.

The film "Uprising" is based on a conflicted relationship between a father and son, each has an excuse, and they do not understand the justification of the other, although the father and son and the path they choose are not much different from each other. This topic is presented mainly in context, and in the foreground is a war veteran, currently a shoemaker father, whose kiosk, according to the new law, must be dismantled, and who does not agree with this idea and, contrary to his son's calls, is fighting.

A young man, lost in illusions, discovers love with a blind girl. Their connection goes beyond sight.

He has the answers to his many questions, and he knows how to change reality, but he cannot change his fall, because gravity does its job, and the fall cannot be stopped...

This film is the result of an animation workshop for teenagers in Yerevan. It is based on interviews with children whose families have just moved to Armenia from Russia.

Filmed in the Armenian capital of Yerevan, Lusine Sargsyans drama depicts the lives of various individuals living in an apartment complex during the Armenian-Azerbadjanian war of the mid 1990’s. The situation is cruel and hard for the citizens of Yerevan. The need for food and electricity is dominating the international news from the city, while inside this abode in the centre of the city daily life goes on in spite of desperation. A rare narrative insight into a war that had a huge impact on Armenian life, Sargsyans five unique stories about relationships, struggles and faith preach a down-to-earth sermon about the cruelty of wars, and the strength of humour, love, and community.

When young Mesi steps in for her squeamish brother to perform a traditional — male-only — ritual, she faces blame for the negative outcome. Instead, she defiantly questions the wisdom of her elders’ beliefs.

Four young friends are trapped in a cycle of destructive addictions. They have reached a critical point։ every step forward or back will determine their future.

Religious Sarah bets with her atheist classmate Arthur to overcome her faith doubts: if her prayers save their sick classmate, Arthur will go to church with her, otherwise, Sarah shall walk naked on the street.

For Hasan the cobbler, the skins he sewed become a scourge, and one day they even "kill" a person. Baregut Sultan makes a verdict and the skins are hanged in the square.

The film tells the inspiring story of Silven, a former professional football player from Côte d'Ivoire. After several years playing in Armenia, he was offered a lucrative job in the capital but chose a different path. Silven settled in the remote village of Teghut, where he now lives a simple, peaceful life, growing vegetables and raising chickens. Despite financial hardship and cultural differences, Silven has dedicated himself to training local children in football. His dream is to help them become true champions—not only on the field, but in life. He believes success shouldn’t depend on coming from the capital and strives to instill values of discipline, hard work, and hope. This film is a tribute to Silven’s mission: a man bridging cultures and inspiring a new generation in a quiet Armenian village through the universal language of football.

Beko is a young Kurd who lives in the Turkish part of Kurdistan at the time of the Iraq war. After escaping from an unjustified arrest, he goes on a search for his brother, who planned to cross Syria and reach Iraq.

When soldiers are killed, they often end up as anonymous numbers in news reports. But behind every number there is a person who leaves behind heartbroken family members. The title 1489 refers to the anonymous number of a “body of an individual missing in action.” It was the number assigned to Soghomon Vardanyan, a 21-year-old student and musician who was close to completing his mandatory military service when the conflict between Azerbaijan and his home country Armenia over Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) flared up again in September 2020.

This story is about a poet who commits suicide after returning from the war. Unable to forget him, his younger brother begins to write a book about his older brother in his old age.

With only her dance, her sickly daughter, and her estranged husband, Maria struggles to keep her family alive. But are surrounding people real? Who roams the alleyways and streets of the town that were ruined by the 1988 earthquake? Do ghosts inhabit the land, or is it just emptiness? She must unravel these mysteries... within six days.

Relegated to the background in the brutal times of a transitional period, the Maestro, who is a devotee of art, an advocate of moral standards, a cellist of a symphonic orchestra, a professor of a conservatory, unable to withstand the prevailing wildness, has inevitable clashes with the environment and experiences a heavy personal drama. Archival footage of protests preceding and following the 2008 Armenian presidential elections are used in the film.

In this lush historical drama set in 1916 Ethiopia, Gobeze is a timid, peace-loving literature student who has dedicated his life to studying Sem Ina Werq — riddles with dual meaning. After spending years searching for his first love, Aleme, who was abducted seven years earlier, he finally finds her married to Gonite, a wealthy judge and landlord. When Gonite catches the two reunited lovers, a fight ensues. Following tradition, the feuding men are bound together, and, side by side, must make the long journey to stand trial in the royal court.

A light-hearted tale of a young man’s transition into the Armenian army and his discovery of love and courage.

July 2023. Nagorno-Karabakh has been under siege by Azerbaijan for seven months. As war draws nearer, Comes Chahbazian asks his friend Artziv to f ilm his daily life with his wife Tatev and their five children.

Not everybody is endowed with a vivid imagination. One person can imagine paradise, yet the other one can only imagine himself as being the boss.

Ares, 35, lives in an abandoned city with his bedridden mother and an elderly professor—the only ones who refused to flee after a ghostly invasion drove out the population. In this post-apocalyptic reality, without electricity or communication, Ares and the professor wander through empty streets, unable to understand the ghosts' purpose. When the professor urges him to escape west, where distant radio signals still exist, Ares must make a painful choice: leave his mother behind in search of a future or stay and become a ghost himself.

The main character manages to expose his faithless friends and a corrupt politician who was supporting a number of illegal activities.

Student Movie

The hero of the film is a young director who goes to prison to study the psychology of those sentenced to death. The main actions take place in the cell of those sentenced to death.

"Shushi, Amen" tells the history of the city of Shushi from 1905 and even earlier. During the film, the group of historians and architects prove the Armenian heritage Shushi, reference is made to reliable sources written in historical books, and categorically reject the fabricated truth that Shushi is an Azerbaijani city. The film uses a large number of chronicles, with the help of 3D modeling, 4 churches were restored, except Ghazanchetsots and Kanach Zham, which were in Shushi, but were destroyed over time.

The film is a cinematic interpretation of the travel book “Armenia” by Russian poet Andrei Bely.

A young woman wanders through a dump, collecting various items from which she constructs something – an object of adoration, or perhaps an unseen instrument through which she wants to convey her voice to the heavens.

Crazy director makes his play look realistic.

The film is about war, love, the devotees of our days, unity, the formation of state thinking and patriotism.

A video and installation project produced in Agarak and Meghri. The project tackles the political economy and social ecology of border infrastructures in Southern Armenia. By focusing on two significant events that illustrate the dominant political shifts in the region, ‘A Passage’ looks at how processes of rapid militarization and neoliberalization have restructured these borders.

After a few months of travel we returned to Addis Ababa to the house were I grew up. I wanted to hear a story from my grandmother, Tafesech Zeleke, who raised me. She told us the story, Wenzu, in her kitchen. When she passed away I decided to make this piece.

Animated short about presidential elections of 1991 and its consequences in the Armenian people’s life under the rule of Pan-Armenian National Movement. Based on a song by Armenian poet and songwriter Ruben Hakhverdyan.

The family is poor, and the two small children are hungry. The father sets out to find work. A little later in a bakery: a man suddenly shouts "Thief!" and points at the young father. A wild chase begins!

Thirteen-year-old Fre lives a sheltered life with her single father in Addis Ababa. The two have a lot of fun together and her father is proud of his self-confident daughter. Even his tentative relationship with a woman who wants to marry him as soon as possible does not throw Fre off course. She is curious about her own life and the world outside, and her older friend Sarah is a close ally and role model. One evening, Fre receives a visit from three young men she met through her friend. Then something terrible happens that completely throws Fre and her father off course and destroys their perfect world forever.

Aram, the Iranian Armenian youth who has immigrated to the US in childhood returns to Armenia for the first time to propose to an Armenian girlfriend Aram met and lived with in the US. Aram sees many cultural, religious, and national differences on the one day trip, but harder obstacles are ahead.

How to carry life inside you while surrounded by the threats of death? In blockaded Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), a pregnant mother carries both hope and fear, as war, hunger, and deprivation threaten the fragile life within her.