Archive of films I'm Going to Change My Name / Aid es chem

Armenia / Russia / Denmark / Germany
2012, 103 min

Section: Another View
Year: 2013

Fourteen-year-old Evridika and her mother Sona live in a small town. Because conductor Sona spends most of her time on tour with her choir, she has little time for her daughter. As a result, the girl gradually withdraws into her own world.… A current resident of Moscow, the talented filmmaker returned to her native Armenia to shoot a sensitive, dreamlike investigation into an adolescent girl’s complicated inner life with all its hidden recesses.

Synopsis

Fourteen-year-old Evridika lives with her mother Sona in the small Armenian town of Alaverdi. Sona, the conductor of a world-renowned male choir, spends most of her time on the road and doesn’t have much time for her daughter. Frequently lonely, young Evridika struggles to come to terms with her complicated emotions. She tries to find answers to fundamental questions, and slowly withdraws into a private world which she creates via the internet. She yearns to change her name and become someone else.... Talented Moscow-based filmmaker Maria Saakyan returned to her native Armenia to shoot a sensitive, dreamlike investigation into an adolescent girl’s complicated inner life with all its hidden recesses. Visually, the director makes organic use of modern technology, while her narrative style is rooted in the traditional Armenian liturgical hymn known as sharakan, comprising nine parts, each of which brings the listener closer to its essence.

About the director

Maria Saakyan (b. 1980, Yerevan) was born and grew up in Armenia but moved to Russia with her parents in 1992. She graduated from Moscow’s VGIK film school in 2003 with a degree in directing and animation. During her studies, she shot several short animated and experimental films. Her graduate work was the short The Farewell (Proshchanie, 2003). Her feature debut The Lighthouse (Mayak, 2006), which explores the subject of war in the Caucasus, was shown at numerous festivals, including Rotterdam and London. I’m Going to Change My Name is her second feature. She also recently completed the experimental film Entropy (Entropiya, 2013).

Contacts

Anniko Films
2nd lane Fuchika str 5-6, 0078, Yerevan
Armenia
Tel: +374 105 211 28
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.annikofilm.am

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About the film

Color, DCP

Section:	Another View

Director:	Maria Saakyan
Screenplay:	Maria Saakyan
Dir. of Photography:	Mkrtich Malkhasyan
Music:	Vartan Harutyunyan
Editor:	Maria Saakyan, Bodil Krkhauerge
Producer:	Victoria Lupik, Armen Manasaryan, Gevorg Gevorkyan
Production:	Anniko Films, Paradise film distribution company, National Cinema Center of Armenia
Cast:	Arina Adju, Evgeniy Tsyganov, Maria Atlas
Contact:	Anniko Films