Documentarist

Black and white, 35 mm
Armenia, 2003, 62 min
Section: Documentary Competition

Synopsis

The chapters The Quarry, Maternity Hospital, Beggars, Beggars’ Feast, Children’s Home, Refugees and The Shooting all give a testimony of today’s Armenia. Working with stone, weddings and a woman giving birth, the sense of solidarity – these are among the lighter aspects of a country devastated by war and unemployment. A country gripped by poverty, exodus, alcoholism and crime. The governor of a prison sees her clients as political prisoners, since they abused the independence of their country. They are satiated, their children are hungry. Criminals hunt people, people hunt stray dogs. But death is followed by new life, and hopelessness by hope.

About the director

Harutyun Khachatryan (1955, Akhalkalak, Georgia) studied film at the State Pedagogical Institute in 1981. He then worked as director of the Documentary Department of Hayfilm/Armenfilm studios. Select filmography: Voices of the District (1981), Hosted by the Commander (1985, co-dir. with N. Hovhannisyan), Chronicle of a Case (1985), Three Rounds from Vladimir Yangibaryan’s Life (1986), Kond (1987), White Town (1988), The Wind of Emptiness (1989), Return to the Promised Land (1991), the psychological drama The Last Station (1994).