The feature film is based on true events that changed two families forever. The story, both comical, satirical and a tragedy begins in the city of Yerevan, Armenia. Grigor Janoyan, a professor of agriculture at the University of Yerevan, dies from a freak accident, almost as strange as the events that soon follow. In accordance with Armenian tradition, the relatives bring the deceased into their home for the "viewing" by his friends and family before the burial. The family, consumed with grief fails to realize that the body on the dining room table is not Grigor. A friend of the family, while paying respects, discovers the mistake. Grigors look-a-like, Ruben Pashayan was the head of Armenia's organized crime families. Trouble is inevitable, but as the story continues, Grigor's son Hayk and his friends begin the quest of finding his father's body.
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.
Rich Nikoghos-agha buys some beef liver for Nerses-akhpar's family. Although months have passed, Nikoghos-agha does not hesitate to remind his "charity" to Nerses-akhpar every time they met.
The tranquility of a remote Armenian mountain community is disrupted when a group of shepherds affected by the pangs of an evening hunger, decide to butcher and barbecue the sheep of another's that have strayed into their herd. An official inquiry by the city police complicates matters, and questions of law, morality and community only seem to lead to further entanglements.
In their first collaboration Melkonian and cinematographer Mikhail Vartanov film two neighbour families that both claim ownership of a huge mulberry tree growing in the middle of their two houses.
Artak has served his military service in the Russian countryside where he meets Valya. But Valya's mother refuses to send her only daughter to “these far highlands, where earthquakes happen all the time”. Artak is forced to ask his contrasting and numerous relatives –Armenian villagers– to visit a remote Russian village to bring a bride to Armenia.
Manas is hired to work for master Tatos till the spring, "when the cuckoo will call". There is one condition of the contract: if anyone of them gets annoyed with another, he loses everything. Unable to stand the day-and-night work for stingy master, Manas leaves without a pense of salary for months work. Next servant who knocks at Tatos's door is Manas's small brother, smart Simon.
In 1948, decades after fleeing Armenia to the US as a child, Charlie returns in the hopes of finding a connection to his roots, but what he finds instead is a country crushed under Soviet rule. After being unjustly imprisoned, Charlie falls into despair, until he discovers that he can see into a nearby apartment from his cell window - the home of a prison guard.
Alone Man Show
After the devastating Spitak earthquake of December 7th, Konstantin Berezhnoy, a 50-year-old Russian, and Robert Melkonyan, a 28-year-old Armenian, work together to rescue the desperate survivors.
Experience spectacular aerial and ground views and cultural revelations of a country like no other in a virtual tour of Mount Ararat, Khor Virap, Yerevan, the Genocide memorial, and more. Narrated by Andrea Martin, the documentary features prominent voices from the Armenian diaspora including Eric Bogosian, Chris Bohjalian, Peter Balakian, Michael Aram, and others.
Es geht um Alles
The Lark Farm is set in a small Turkish town in 1915. It deals with the genocide of Armenians, looking closely at the fortunes, or rather, misfortunes of one wealthy Armenian family.
In Munich, the Armenian Areg dreams of studying cinema with his German girlfriend Lilly. Until her widowed mother fell seriously ill with diabetes. Areg and her little brother Garnik have to take care of her.
The Armenian national hero, David Bek, leads a major Armenian uprising against Safavid Persia in the Syunik region in the 18th century.
As a result of the second Karabakh war, a village should be ceded to Azerbaijan since a new highway is built through the Lachin corridor. The family of Narine, like many other Armenian families, needs to find a new place.
Two part film about David Bek and Mkhitar Sparapet's major Armenian uprising against Safavid Persia in the Syunik region in the 18th century.
The film is dedicated to the Armenian monk and genius composer Komitas, and the 2 million victims on his people in Turkey in 1915. The final 20 years of Komitas life were spent in various mental hospitals. The destiny of Komitas? This is the magic beauty of Armenian culture and the abhorrent brutality of Armenian history. A cultural and artistic world that was slaughtered with a curved knife. A humanity that doggedly advances towards an apocalyptic catastrophe, that does not recognize its own original purpose, eradicates its own memory, its final roots.
Two American teenagers become intrigued by Armenia's history and culture after learning about the 2020 aggression by Azerbaijan that devastated the Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabach district from a friend's war correspondent father. Mark Tomlet and his friend Amy Holton embark on a life-changing journey to Armenia, visiting the war zone only months after an uneasy ceasefire was declared, and interview people affected by the war. In the process, the two learn a lot about themselves and how much they take for granted. That first trip leads to more engagement with Armenia, leading tours to the country, and eventually, something amazing happens that brings joy out of the tragedy of war. It's a serendipitous story of hope from tragedy, a chance adventure, and love blossoming even in the worst of circumstances.
The last collaboration of Artavazd Peleshian and cinematographer Mikhail Vartanov is a film-essay about Armenia's shepherds, about the contradiction and the harmony between man and nature, scored to Vivaldi's Four Seasons.