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10.03.2023

When memories prompt action. For most of my childhood, Friendship Park was a no-go zone, a scary place where children were not allowed to play. The voice of Narine Azaryan, Khachatur Azaryan’s daughter, the last director of the Friendship Park, takes us back to Soviet times, when the park was full of people and joy. Through the images from their family photo album, we can witness the park in a different light. For generations of Gyumri residents, Friendship Park and its arches and stage were the city’s calling card. A magical place for art and play. That changed after the 1988 earthquake. This film documents the park’s glorious past, its rebirth and reopening, the work of public and private supporters who believed the park should reclaim its role as a symbol of the city.

Short Documentary client.stories.video_reading: 00:10:36

Friendship park

Sona Simonyan

29.12.2022

Since the advent of home movie footage, memory has entered into symbiosis with media — but, as decades pass, regimes change and file formats fall away, so too, does media disintegrate, and the memories depart alongside it. This film represents a conscious effort to revisit and re-articulate Georgian people’s memories of the 1990’s, through the time capsules of their newly digitised home video cassettes.

Short Documentary client.stories.video_reading: 00:01:01

Glasses crack, tablecloths splinter|trailer

Anna R. Japaridze

29.12.2022

Can we control our lives through the lens of a camera? A young Armenian director takes over her aunt’s old video camera, a lifelong dream. Through the old footage of her childhood and her own interviews with her family and friends, she unpacks Armenia’s recent history and hopes for the future. Disillusioned with her present in post-war Armenia, young Armenian filmmaker Greta Harutyunyan picks up a camera to explore her options for the future. But to understand the future, she travels back to her past, revisiting it through a homevideo archive created by her aunt. Greta finally takes over the aunt’s video camera, a moment she always dreamed of, and turns it on her and the people around her. Through this ‘time travel’ we can discover Armenia reflected in its recent past, different generations and their conflicting visions for a better future. Through their advice to Greta, we witness Armenian society projecting their own vision for a better future of the country. While filming, Greta learns about the death of her soldier cousin, one of those documented in the old VHS camera footage of festive and hopeful childhood moments. The 19-year-old soldier is one of many victims of the ongoing conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Short Documentary client.stories.video_reading: 00:03:52

Instructions for the future | Trailer

Greta Harutyunyan