Instructions for the future | Trailer
Instructions for the future | Trailer
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.
This film was produced in the framework of Chai Khana Fellowship program - Summer Autumn 2022
This film was produced with support from the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) South Caucasus Regional Office. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of FES or Chai Khana.