Rum & Coke
The film is a story about the creation of a book. The book is travelling, has its inner road, which in this particular case only shapes in the preferred spaces of the Armenian author Aram Pachyan.*
The first place, which the author explores is the surroundings of “ Stork” restaurant located in Victory Park. “ Stork” restaurant with its architectural uniqueness does not work for ages, it is a nearly abandoned place, it retained its liveliness only as a view opened from the restaurant, which is the whole view of Yerevan city. And in this exact place, teenagers, artists gather and escape from society for some time, who seek to find silence and thoughts. The author as well likes this place and repeats in his mind some sentences while coming to this place, which is a part of an upcoming book. The other preferred place for the author is cinema Russia’s building, which is one of the best examples of Soviet modernist architecture. Here the author tries to find the lost connection between him and the not so distant past. He is aware of Yerevan life during soviet times from textbooks, art pieces and films. At one point the author tries to get rid of all this information and creates his personal, intellectual connection to understand both the city's history and his book, which is in the process of creation all the time. The other place where the author appears is his parents’ house, which is on the way to Arzni village. The house is half-ruined, in the 90’s parents left the house having no means to finalize the renovation. For the author his book like his childhood house is a ruin, unfinished building, abandoned memory and an unfulfilled dream, which though wakes up only with the help of art, at that moment, when the author again returns and wanders in his native half-ruined building’s area. The last spot is the printing house. Printing machines, the tools for sewing, compiling, gluing and knocking embody the birth of the book. The author follows the birth of his book standing near the printing machine and meanwhile we listen to some parts from the book.
About the protagonist:
*Aram Pachyan is an Armenian writer, whose books have become national bestsellers, were republished many times and translated into foreign languages. His new experimental novel “P/F” will be released soon.The extracts from it are recited by the writer himself in the video. The novel is destructive, not narrative driven, but it consists of fragments that are not logically connected to each other.
The topics Aram Pachyan reflects in his works, as well as his unique writing style and language, open up new dimensions for the reader. His stories touch many vulnerable issues starting from military service (“Goodbye, Bird”, 2012) ending with alcohol addiction and human empathy towards the sufferer ( “Transparent Bottles”, 2008), and social injustice. Recently, his story “Transparent Bottles” raised a huge stir because of being included into the list of Armenian contemporary authors to be studied at middle school.
Filmmaker Arthur Sukiasyan about Art and Activism:
In the last decade, artists political and social engagement practices have become too cliche, lacking some progressive ideas and experimentation. In our film, we try to engage into social issues via a dialogue of image and text. This is a very personal reflection, personal type of activism manifested with an exploration of the city's half-ruined buildings that is our architectural heritage though neglected. This engagement takes place within the shots, the silence and protagonist's journey.
In Armenia, there are various pressing political and social issues, there is the problem of poverty, social injustice which is difficult to ignore as an independent artist. In the last years, the architectural heritage of Yerevan has been slowly demolished, and the problem to keep it and return it to the habitants becomes crucial. And our film reflects on this problem as well, within its preferable, cinematic language.