Merri Mkrtchyan
Merri Mkrtchyan was born in 1995 in Armenia. She has studied film directing at Yerevan State Institute of Theatre and Cinematography. Her films has been screened in different countries and galleries. In 2019 she has published her first book QARASTAN. Currently she works at PANIKA production as an independent filmmaker.
Author's stories
For three elderly women, an Armenian charity has become a safe haven, helping them find joy and music to overcome their loneliness, if only for a few hours a day.
Anichka, Emma and Gayane depend on the Mission to Armenia, going every day to eat and visit. For these women, as well as scores of other vulnerable senior citizens, the charity is a safe place to gather, make friends and play music. The music they create together helps them forget their troubles and find moments of joy in their difficult lives.
3songs
Seda Khachatryan, Rima Avagyan and Alvine Chobanyan are three Armenian septuagenarians whose lives are strung between memories of the past and challenges of the present. Gunfire occurs regularly in their village of Nerkin Karmiraghbyur, a stone's throw away from Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan, but there is no one to help these elderly women face it. They live all alone.
Alone Under Fire
Enrolling in the Yerevan State Institute of Theater and Cinematography was Vrezh Varzhapetyan’s first step toward his dream of becoming a film director. But the experience has not been easy. Varzhapetyan is openly gay and many of those who learned about his sexual orientation initially prevented him from making friends and finding the inspiration he sought. After he suffered a knife attack, the Institute became for him a place of struggle and anxiety. Now 22 and about to graduate, Varzhapetyan considers these difficulties an inseparable part of his memories.
Born This Way: Gay in Armenia
Two young artists decide to be friends and not to worry about being labeled the “enemy”.
As skirmishes and battles fester on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, the author of the film lives and creates with her Azerbaijani friend Aysel. Their friendship is unique because they are citizens of enemy countries. This film represents their daily lives and national problems, which they have to face everyday in their personal lives.
The attitude of their own societies is ambiguous. Nobody knows yet that a war will break out in September. Even though they are citizens of bordering countries, they have to travel safe, third countries to meet. They maintain hope - to visit each other’s homelands and never worry about being labeled the “enemy” - despite the situation on the border.
The film was prepared in August of 2020. A month later, the Armenian-Azerbaijanian war took away their friends. Despite the fierce emotions stirred by the fighting, they continued to stay true to their values and friendship.
Jane Jan
The consequences of the 2020 war between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Armenia is handing over territories, people are forced to leave their homes.